What’s a school for, if not to inspire and encourage students? Traditionally, much of the time, that encouragement and inspiration comes from teachers in a classroom who try to pass on to their pupils the knowledge and skills that will prepare them for the next stage of their education or in the world of work.
But there can be many ways to stimulate young people’s curiosity and interests, inside the classroom and outside, and Mahar Regional School educators and students seem to have struck upon an energizing idea they have called “Mahar-X.”
The event, which was held as the school year wound down, invited students and teachers to showcase their passions, interests, expertise and innovative projects for a day of presentations throughout the school.
About a year ago, the school formed an Innovation Team that through discussions with other teachers, developed the idea for Mahar-X.
Mahar teacher Keith Bevan explained the genesis this way: “Instead of having the band concert one day, the art show another day and the science fair on a separate day, we wanted to combine all of those things into one day.”
They also opened the event to presentations from individual teachers and students who could transport listeners far beyond the walls of their school — people like student Henry Ndayisaba, who before moving to the region, lived in a refugee camp in Africa surrounded by war, with limited food and unclean drinking water.
Students were able to choose three presentations to attend, all lasting 20 minutes, throughout the day. Following lunch, Mahar’s clubs and sports teams also set up booths for students to freely visit at their leisure.
Teacher John Speek said the day was planned to encourage students’ passions — exactly what schools should be doing, especially at the high school level.
“We are here because we want to inspire you. We want you to understand what you want to do with your education, and then we want you to go out and do it,” Speek told students during Mahar-X.
Presentations were held by individual students and teachers, on topics ranging from suicide prevention to the importance of clean rivers.
Students were also able to listen to stories written by peers in the creative writing class, along with listening to the chorus and band perform in the morning.
Mahar X is a great program that should further the school’s mission of stimulating interests in the many aspects of our lives, in ways that reach beyond basic book learning. We applaud the Mahar community for recognizing the value of such a program and for pulling it off. It’s something other area schools should take a look at emulating.
Mahar hopes to refine the event and eventually invite local community members and businesses to collaborate. This sounds like a good idea because there are many adults and organizations in the North Quabbin Region that Mahar’s students can learn from as well. And we’d encourage the organizers to open the event to the public at large, because all of us could probably learn a lot about, and from, the students themselves.