As I write this page, I am running a Structured Study Hall for ten students who benefit from supervision doing their homework. As proof, I'll submit this image taken seconds ago on my Blackberry Storm:

 

The venue for Structured Study Hall is the Harman Learning Skills area on the third floor of the Alice and David Fowler Learning Center. This floor dedicates more than a dozen small bright classrooms for tutorial supports throughout the day, as well as the larger Learning Lab classroom in which I am seated at the present moment, lording over my obedient charges. 

But back to Learning Skills. This academic support service is the greatest thing that ever happened to Proctor. It started informally, around faculty apartment kitchen tables in the 1930s, and quickly formalized into the nation's pre-eminent academic support program for highly capable college bound students. This is from earlier today:

 

While Headmaster Lyle Farrell liked to refer to himself as "the great builder" at Proctor for raising the funds to construct Holland Auditorium, Shirley Hall and Farrell Fieldhouse, I would argue that his greatest legacy is the Learning Skills program, which he formalized with guidance from the great psychologist Samuel T. Orton.

 

The reason Lyle deserves so much credit is that the college preparatory academic program that evolved in the '60s and '70s (and on to the present) grew organically with this structured support system. Learning Skills was not an afterthought, as it is at many other schools; it was here, at the center of everything. With time, honors sections and advanced placement courses evolved....all with students who benefitted from Learning Skills classes.


 

This morning, I accompanied local videographer Ethney McMahon as she taped Learning Skills classes in action as part of a History of Learning Skills project. What will not come through in the final product (due to time constraints) is the degree of integration that structured support plays in the academic life of this school.

 

Learning Specialists typically meet with two students each hour, strategizing organization, time management and related executive skills. Rather than remediating weaknesses, attention is usually directed to strengths and increased self-awareness. Note the videocam at left.

 

The existence of the program impacts everyone, even those who never enroll in Learning Skills, because it sets the tone of faculty commitment to student success that distinguishes Proctor.


 

While dozens of schools and colleges have studied and copied aspects of the program over the years, many fear that creating support services implies a lack of academic rigor. That strikes people of Proctor as ironic; the challenge of our academic program mirrors the degree of support afforded.



 

And students in an academic environment in which success can be anticipated are more willing to risk really working hard.


 

We are now on Winter Bonus Weekend until Monday night. The next Corner will appear Tuesday evening.