• Patriot Path is a student initiative that develops marketable skills such as leadership development, relationship building, project development, and networking with community partners through student-to-student, student-to-faculty, and student-to-community connections. Our main focus became more than helping students to de-stress or have an activity block. 

    Patriot Path was initiated in early August of the 2016-17 school year and is held every Wednesday for 55 minutes. This is a time for students and teachers to de-stress, and it allows for many student-to-student, student-to-faculty, and student-to-community connections to occur. Hopefully, some global connections can be established as well. Students can choose the path/session they want from multiple options offered each week (80+). Some sessions will continually be offered weekly and others will come and go; however, each week a new session is presented for students to choose from. Whether the students are leading sessions or are choosing sessions of interest, there is a lot of excitement surrounding Patriot Path. The opportunities are endless as we bring students, faculty, and the community together through a wide variety of activities that foster relationship building, creativity, communication skills, and so much more. We know this is a positive experience for our students based on their feedback.

    It is held every Wednesday for 55 minutes. Students can choose the path/session they want from over 80+ options each week. Last year, one of our students developed an extensive Patriot Path dashboard communication website that students use each day to sign up for Patriot Path sessions and to offer new idea sessions. Some sessions are offered repeatedly and others will come and go; however, each week a new session is presented for students to choose from. Another highlight of the initiative is that several students have felt passionate about a topic, talent, or issue, and have been asked to lead sessions. School leaders hoped students would eventually lead sessions they created, but a group of students came forward and asked to lead a session about organizing a male vocal ensemble during the first week of implementation. Since that time, the number of student-led sessions has grown. Two things, in particular, stand out; students felt empowered from the orientation they received at the beginning of the year that they could lead a session, and they used collaboration, creativity, time management and communication skills in the process. Whether the students are leading sessions or are choosing sessions of interest, there is much excitement surrounding Patriot Path. We know this is a positive experience for our students based on their feedback, as students are developing real-world soft skills essential for success in the classroom as well as in the workforce, and they are applying them during Patriot Path!

    Our focus is that every student has a connection/relationship with an adult in the building. An added benefit has been the development of marketable skills for students who plan, promote, and lead a session. Mrs. Coker, our sponsor of Patriot Paws, an animal rescue awareness club, has seen students take leadership roles in community organizations because of their involvement in the program during Patriot Path. “Students go to shelters on the weekends to walk dogs or they assist at adoption events for M.A.R.F. (Madison Animal Rescue Foundation).  

    Many other community volunteers have come alongside our school faculty to support the sessions. Our school registrar is an avid knitter, and several of her knitting circle members volunteer their time to help students learn this re-emerging craft. A student wanted to organize a session around providing toiletries and socks for homeless veterans. A student named Dylan collaborated with one of our teachers, Mrs. Murray, and she helped him network with local businesses, fellow students, and community leaders to provide the supplies for boxes that would be packed during Patriot Path and delivered to Huntsville’s VA Medical Clinic.  A group of students learned some basic American Sign Language and signed the Pledge of Allegiance on the sidelines at one of our football games. One student commented that a hearing impaired community member thanked them, and she said, “I learned there is an entire group of people I can communicate with now!”

    Our primary focus in the creation and implementation of this initiative has been to develop relationships between students and faculty. That goal has been achieved. Zachary said, “It’s great that there is a balance with all the choices like physical activities, games, clubs, and academics.” Coach Reynolds has made himself available to supervise a student-led group  who want to learn how to create memes. As our varsity girls basketball coach, it might not be expected that Mr. Reynolds would find much in common with techy meme creators. Mr. Rogers has offered a session about the business side of sports.  Thomas, a sophomore, says, “This is a subject I'm very interested in, but it's not offered as a class. I learned more about it during Patriot Path.” One of our students moved to our school last year. It came to one of her teacher’s attention that she possessed the ability to hula dance. Collette worked up enough nerve, with the support of Mrs. Summers, to share her talent and teach others about this beautiful native dance. It has been amazing to see Collette in the days since she began leading the Patriot Path session. Her self-esteem has improved dramatically and she has more confidence in the classroom.  

    Students comment on the extra time they have to spend with friends participating in an activity they enjoy. Kaylee said, “I took a photography class and learned about how taking pictures from certain angles can improve the shot.” Joshua says, “I like that Patriot Path is in the middle of the week. It’s a nice break.” Analeise stated, “I enjoyed learning how to care for pets by attending the Patriot Paws session and I used Afternoon Tea and Read to catch up on some reading.” 

    There are several more accounts similar to these, and our school leadership looks forward to all the positive ways Patriot Path will continue to improve the academic and social lives of the students at Bob Jones High School in the future. The positive impact is not only observed in our students. Faculty members have embraced Patriot Path with great enthusiasm. Mrs. Panagos leads trivia sessions, Mrs. Gaines leads nail art sessions, Coach Smith leads KanJam games, and Mrs. Hadden opens her classroom to chess players. Our world language teachers offer opportunities for students to practice conversation, while some of our science teachers open the labs for students to try experiments that extend concepts they learn in the classroom. 

    Patriot Path is meeting the needs of our current students, but it has the incredible potential to impact the instruction at Bob Jones in ways we cannot yet measure. We look forward to the future and how inquiry/student-led learning will become the norm in every classroom and students will continue to apply leadership, networking, and other valuable life and workplace skills they developed in Patriot Path.

    Patriot Path has the incredible potential to impact the instruction at Bob Jones in ways we can not yet measure. We look forward to the future and how inquiry/student lead-learning will become the norm in classrooms of all contents.