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Starting on Wednesday November 9, EHHS used flex blocks to introduce the Vision of Graduate (VOG) to students and teachers. EHPS launched this program to help all students develop skill sets that will be necessary after graduation.
According to Mrs. Lisa Veleas, EHHS English instructional leader, the Vision of the Graduate is, “a concept that school districts try to use to identify students' strength before they graduate.” The VOG is used as a tool to help students become a responsible citizen and build skills that are needed in the real world. The school district wants to ensure that students have certain knowledge and skills before they graduate. There are five elements of the EHPS Vision of the Graduate; EHPS students should be responsible citizens, goal-directed and resilient individuals, informed thinkers, resourceful problem solvers, and powerful and effective communicators.
The Vision of the Graduate was implemented by the New England Association of School and Colleges. EHPS then sought the feedback of students, parents, and educators across the district. According to EHHS principal, Mr. Vincent DeNuzzo, “the NEASC comes in and at EHHS every 10 years to evaluate our school and they have a set of standards that the school needs to address. One of their standards is that the school identifies the Vision of the Graduate.” Since one of the NEASC requirements is to have the Vision of the Graduate, EHHS has started to introduce it to the students and teachers.
By gathering all the opinions available, EHHS came up with the Vision of the Graduate in the hope that this skill set would be useful after students graduate high school to help with their futures. Mr. DeNuzzo stated, “The superintendent of EHHS, ran a focus group with parents, community members, students, with staff members, all trying to identify what it was that we wanted our kids to be able to do by the time they leave high school.” These skills will hopefully help build the future that all EHHS students are looking for and deserve.
The Vision of the Graduate has been in process for years, but this is the first time that EHHS introduced it to the teachers and students. Mrs. Veleas also stated that many other schools in the district have been introducing the Vision of the Graduate including middle school and elementary. Mrs. Veleas shares that, “We do not distinguish, but in freshman year, we are identifying certain things that all freshman would do alone to be working toward it so there are different checkpoint for each grade level but its not like when your a junior, you do this thing of the Vision of the Graduate or else you cannot be a senior, it not like earning a specific kind of credit.” Different grade levels and different schools have different approaches, but in EHHS there are checkpoints for students to complete before they graduate.
Mrs. Veleas and many other teachers' goal is “When we hand out your diploma on stage, we can say, you have graduated and you have successfully achieved the Vision of the Graduate.” She also stated that, “All the graduation requirements all link to the vision of the graduate.” This means that the Capstone experience, community service, GPA, and many other components are part of the Vision of the Graduate.
This is something that EHHS would like to keep forever to help the students of EHHS become well-rounded graduates.
