Lakeland Currents, your public affairs program for north central Minnesota.

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Hello again friends, I'm Jason Edens, your host of Lakeland Currents.

Thanks for joining the conversation today and thanks for your ongoing support of Lakeland Public Broadcasting.

Everyone learns differently, some people are visual learners, while others are auditory learners.

However, some of us learn by doing; their experience and expedition.

The conventional classroom can't always serve the diverse ways in which people learn.

That really begs the question, are some students falling through the cracks in that conventional classroom?

Well, that question helps us understand why it's important that we have charter schools like Trek North Junior and Senior High School right here in Bemidji.

Here to help us better understand the unique learning model and pedagogy of Trek North are my guests today.

Erica Harmsen is its Executive Director.

Allie Dickinson is a Senior at Trek North and Alyssa Dow is also a Senior this year at Trek North.

Thanks for joining me today, I really appreciate it.

Well, first of all, what exactly makes Trek North unique?

Erica, can you tell us a little bit about its origin story and what separates it from a traditional school district, if you will.

We have three (3) pillars that we focus on at Trek North.

Besides being a 6 - 12 school that we started in 2003, and in addition to your traditional classroom, we also focus on "AP" and our goal is that every student has access to an Advanced Placement (AP) classroom just because research shows that they're more successful in college if they have exposure to that in the high school setting.

We offer a variety of AP classes, from AP-Art to AP-Gov to AP-Lit, and then we're actually missing our AP kickoff this morning.

It's happening back at school where kids take their very first practice test.

Then we also have outdoor education and service learning.

Throughout the year, kids can go on various trips; these two have been to both West Virginia and south Texas on social justice trips.

Our Service trips focus more on social justice issues and learning about the world we live in through that lens, and then our Outdoor trips are places where kids can more challenge themselves and learn resilience and compassion as well, but then the hope is that they bring that into the classroom, those same traits that they learn on that trip.

Interesting, so I'm hearing you say that you also place a lot of emphasis on building character not just formal education.

Yes.

Well Allie and Alyssa, I want to ask you - were you two given the choice to go to Trek, was this an option for you?

Yes, definitely.

Definitely.

I remember thinking back in sixth grade, or fifth grade going into sixth grade, that I didn't want to go to a bigger school, it just doesn't fit my personality, and so my mom took the time to look around.

I think Erica had mentioned that there's Voyagers and I think there's a couple other schools in the area that are a lot smaller, but when we went through this researching, then Trek North fit me best.

Okay, how about you, Alyssa?

For me, it was, a bigger part of the decision was if I would be challenged with the curriculum, and the level of it.

I think, definitely, that was a big part in the decision and my mom and I thought it was the best idea for me to be going to Trek North.

So Erica, a lot of folks aren't maybe familiar with charter schools, so what exactly makes a charter school different from the local school district?

Well, they're going to be smaller and they're also, each charter school is very individual and different and they might have their own focus, so you have an Authorizer, which is Volunteers of America for us, and Schoolcraft is another charter school in the community, we share authorizers, and they have a focus that you have to have Service Learning and so that's why we both have that piece in our plans.

I guess it's tricky to say what makes it different, and I think what makes it different is it's going to be smaller and so it's easier to build relationships and then there's going to be some sort of focus, whether that's college prep, expeditionary learning, place-based learning, whatever it might be.

Because each charter school sort of has its own emphasis or focus or niche, if you will.

I'm really interested in learning a little bit more about the trips that you have actually taken, the expeditions, right, so tell me, Alyssa, about the trip to West Virginia.

Where did you go, how was that related to your curriculum, and that type of thing.

Well, West Virginia was a very informative trip.

Actually, all three of us were on the trip, and we, basically the focus was the mountaintop removal, and just the horrible air quality and the pollution they had in the community that we went to.

We saw a lot of the effects that it had on them, and we visited their school and saw the level of education that they could get, and how kind of involved the community was with that.

So some of our viewers might not know what mountaintop removal is, can you give us a quick summary of what that is?

Yes, my understanding of it is that it's for the coal.

Yeah, it's mining for coal, and I think what they do is they just blow off the entire tops of mountains and they just keep going down to get the coal.

Interesting.

So you actually went to another school, is that right?

Allie, you visited with other students while you were in West Virginia?

Yes, it was super cool, we went to the school and we met other kids our age and we got to learn about, I believe it's called Hydroponics.

Yeah, hydroponics, and their mission, I guess, was they realized that in their area, about 90 percent of the food places were fast food.

So it kind of showed that in a lower income area like that, there wasn't healthier choices because the the fresh food and such was just a lot more expensive, and so obviously, if you don't have that level of income, you're going to gravitate to fast food places.

But at that school, they were making fresh vegetables to give to the children there and I thought that was really amazing because it was definitely something that they were passionate about.

I remember we were helping them, I think they grew some lettuce and they had some sprouts and other vegetables, but it was definitely really cool to see high schoolers like us wanting to take initiative for their peers.

Are you still in touch with some of those students that you met?

No, we aren't, but I know that at the host family that we stayed with, that Erica is in touch with them.

So a trip to West Virginia can't be all that inexpensive, so did you have to pay for it, Alyssa, or who actually paid for the trip?

Honestly, I don't really remember, but I know there's definitely a cost for some trips.

It's definitely a lot less than you probably would pay if you were going on your own, and just thinking about the expenses and everything, the Texas trip is a little more fresh in my mind and I remember that it was probably about $175 per person.

Okay, $175 bucks for a week, or two weeks?

Yes, we went for a week.

And where did you go in Texas and why?

Well we went to south Texas, and we stayed in the town of Pharr, it's right on the border, and it was more of a learning experience, because the organization that we were there through - it focuses on just what's really going on at the border and the real issues and what's, what's really happening there.

We worked a little with the community, and we saw the border and we just met so many people that really helped us get a better perspective on what it was like to live down there.

Interesting.

Are these expeditions an annual event, Erica?

Do students go once a year, twice a year , and who does pay for those trips?

How does that work?

We budget for the trips every year as part of our annual budget, and then we do have the kids pay a cost.

The longer trips, like to Chicago or West Virginia or Pharr, Texas - they'll be $175, but we have scholarships, and no kid is ever denied if they can't pay.

When the kids register for classes in the spring for the following year, they also register for those trips.

That's their Service trips or their Outdoor trips, it's just a part of their registration form.

Then in the Fall of the year, or as the trips start to come about, than the trip leaders, and then, we have an experiential ed team, and they will set the rosters.

It's "everyone goes", but they're not going to go every year.

So the trips are sort of staggered, so you might go on a trip as a sophomore, and then not go on a trip again until you're a senior, is that correct?

That's possible, yeah.

You mentioned that the school size is smaller, that's sort of one of the characteristics of a charter school, right?

Yes.

What's the teacher to student ratio, and how does that compare to the local school district?

our teacher to student ratio, I would say, would be probably 16-17 students to teacher.

Okay.

We have very small class sizes.

Our large, if we have a large class in high school, it would be - we cap it at 22, so there will never be more than 22 kids in the class, and then our middle school, grades 6, 7, and 8, those are all between 18 and 20 kids per class.

Okay.

Do you know how that compares to the local school district?

Is it better or worse, for example?

I guess it would depend.

I think they have higher, I mean, they're just a bigger school in general.

Yes.

I think they do have higher class sizes.

Okay.

My daughters go to school there.

Oh, interesting, why is that?

Well, do I have to say that on tv?

well, I would say just so they can be their own person.

Okay, I see, so they're not at your school, basically.

Right.

Understood.

Okay, I'm curious about whether or not the two of you think there's anything that you're potentially "missing" at Trek North?

Is there anything at the local high school, for example, that you say to yourself, Gosh, I really wish we had that.

Well, I know that, you know in the movies they talk about like these sports games and this huge festivals and proms and stuff like that, so I think that would be sort of fun, just kind of getting to have that experience.

Sure.

But I don't, that one factor or those two factors, would not change my decision about going to Trek North.

Interesting.

That brings up a really interesting question, Are there athletics at Trek North?

Yes, we have Skiing, Track, Mountain biking.

I know we started a Fishing and Archery club.

Oh, cool.

Let me think, what else?

Soccer.

Sure.

but how about you, Alyssa, is there anything that you sort of feel like you're missing at Trek North?

No, I wouldn't think so, really.

It would just be the sports, and the bigger school culture events that bigger schools have, because really, our events are mostly student-led, I'm pretty sure, like through Student Council or National Honor Society.

We plan everything, and we're actually planning prom right now.

You're saying that the students plan all of the activities and events, so you're really a part of governance at the school, too, is that what you mean?

Yeah, with advisors, of course, we can't do everything by ourselves, but like the ideas and everything for the events are mostly ours.

How about the trips, are the trips sort of, are you able to contribute to where you go as a student body?

I don't necessarily, you know, I was telling Erica when we were on our way to Texas that let's swing around to Tennessee, but if a trip is going to Texas, you know we're not gonna differentiate, but I know when we were in Texas we had a lot of downtime, so we got to go to a H-E-B, (Erica - a store).

so when you're on these trips it's not, you know, it is very serious., I guess like you're going there for a reason, not to go lay out on the beach or something, but you definitely do get a choice, so it's not like "this, this, this, this, be in bed by this time".

and you definitely get a lot of choice when you're on those trips because you get some down time so I think that's really fun.

So it's not entirely structured, right?

Yeah.

Sure.

Tell me more about the social justice emphasis of your trips, Erica, that's really interesting, I wasn't aware of that.

Well, each one of our Service trips is different, so our Chicago trip, we've been doing since, I think, 2005.

But not since COVID.

That would be like our entry-level trip, I would say, because when the kids, we go to a place called The Darst Center, (they're in the process of moving) but all the years we went it was located on the south side of Chicago in a neighborhood called Bridgeport, and they organized a week-long, it's a social justice immersion trip.

We would learn about homelessness and poverty and food deserts and all of the issues that might impact the people living in an urban setting, and then we would go to agencies and a big part of that is listening and learning people's stories.

and then returning to The Darst Center and in our group, reflecting on those issues and asking questions and reflecting on the stories we heard and then learning more about issues that impact people and then West Virginia has an Environmental Justice focus, and that's the mountaintop removal.

When we went to south Texas, that has an Immigration emphasis, and so we learn about the issues around immigration reform and we learn it through the eyes of the people who live on the border.

New Orleans was the same, and that was a lot of social justice and issues in urban New Orleans.

Okay, so who curates these trips, is it your faculty, is it your instructors that sort of develop these trips and are they all repeats like Chicago?

Yep, so West Virginia is a repeat, Chicago's a repeat, this was the second time we went to south Texas.

When we went to New Orleans, we went three times there.

We've been to Pine Ridge before, and we just kind of, so The Darst Center we found because a staff member who used to work at Trek North, (Deb), had a connection there so that's how that started.

Then, when I wanted to branch out, I asked people that I'd built relationships with through working at The Darst Center.

When we found New Orleans, it was actually, someone had connected us to this person and he, the organization was called United Saints, and the person who started it was actually from Thief River Falls, so that was kind of a cool connection.

Then West Virginia, we actually found through The Darst Center too.

It's an organization that they had known about so we kind of just started branching out and meeting different people that work in, and run agencies, or I should say organizations, that focus on social justice service trips for kids.

Okay.

In high school and college.

So it seems somewhat organic, because as you learn more about these communities, you're able to find other opportunities.

Have you taken, or would you like to take, any international trips?

Actually, I should ask that of the two of you, if you had the opportunity at Trek North, would you have liked to have taken an international trip?

Yeah, definitely.

We actually had a couple trips, I know for sure that people went to Spain on a trip and these trips are actually in the summer.

I'm not quite sure how long they go.

Yeah, I'm not sure quite sure, either.

I know it was actually right before COVID hit.

Me and Alyssa and a few of my other peers at Trek North, were planning to go on with our Spanish teacher, to go to Guatemala cause that is where I'm originally from and so that was, obviously, we couldn't do that anymore because of the pandemic.

Yes, I'm sorry to hear that, that's too bad.

So both of you are enrolled in AP courses, correct?

Yes Advanced Placement.

I just learned from Erica that there's sort of an emphasis on Advanced Placement at Trek North.

Why is it that AP classes are important to the two of you?

Alyssa, let's start with you.

Well, AP courses, really what they are is college-level classes that you can take in high school and I feel like it really just shows you the type of material that you would see or the workload that you would see, in college and I think with the college prep aspect of Trek North, I think that really fits and I think it's pretty good.

How about you, Allie?

I think, I can't remember, I think I've taken seven (7) AP classes at Trek North.

I think there's 14, yeah, 14 AP classes and I can definitely say from 9th to 12th, that it wasn't easy, and being a freshman, I really had to prepare myself.

You know you have to commit to something and I think when you're that young and then you're able to have a curriculum that structures you, that actually teaches you something that's pretty concrete and then you can take on, years later, I remember taking AP Government and Politics, for example, I would see that in my AP Psychology class, and I'd see it in other areas, so I could apply it different places.

I know that when I go off to college next year that it really set me up for success.

Interesting.

So you're with an AP class, do you take the test that would actually give you college credit right after the class, or are all those tests at the end of your senior year?

How does that work?

Yeah, an AP class is 2 semesters, so a year long, and then after the AP class, tests are usually in May.

Okay.

You take it the year that you take the class.

I mean, I know you can repeat the AP test if you don't do so well on it.

So you've already earned college credit, both of you, Yeah.

That's fantastic.

So it's not only a unique learning environment, or because it's a unique learning environment, I'm curious about your instructors, your teachers, what do you think of your teachers?

I love my teachers.

I feel like, especially because it's such a small school, we can all be really close and personal and I feel like there's definitely that level of connection that really helps when you're learning.

Allie?

I know I bring this up a lot, but I think it's really unique that we call teachers by their first name.

You know, obviously, Erica is the director, right, but I call her Erica, so it's not Mr. and Mrs., so it's kind of that level of respect and closeness, and yeah, like Alyssa said, I love all my teachers.

I've really gotten to form a close bond, it's more than, like if I was having a really hard time and I know that at the end of the day that they would be there you know.

They obviously want us, they're there to teach us but they're also there to show compassion and just a love for what they do.

That's inspiring.

Yeah, is it hard to find teachers that are right for this environment, Erica?

Well, when we interview teachers, we ask their level of engagement - so are you willing to lead an Outdoor trip, are you willing to lead a Service trip, and then talk with the teacher about what our school is all about, so everyone who signs on is pretty excited about it.

But willingness and capability are two different things, right?

They may be willing to lead those trips, but how do you know they're capable?

For Outdoor trips - well, no one's going to do anything they aren't comfortable with, too, so we have teachers sign up and then our Outdoor trip leaders are trained with Wilderness First Aid so they go through that, and then, I think , you know, just the teacher that's drawn to a charter school or to Trek North, I think they're all capable to lead the trip.

Sure.

Interesting.

How - I mean, this is a question that would apply to just about any school, but I think it's particularly relevant for a charter school, how do you know that your model is effective, right, with any endeavor we want to verify on the back end that our approach, our model, is working, right, but with education that can be a little bit nebulous especially when a component of your work is around character building.

So how do you know Trek North's model is working well?

I guess I would say we see it in our graduates, and we see it in the students that we have, and like, I'll give an example of something.

So you have your test scores, right, and then you have to have some, I don't know, street data, or some sort of data that is not tied to a number, and so it would be a story.

I have two students that came to me, they're sophomores, and they're on both our student council and our native youth council, it's Marla and Cece, I'll name drop their names, because I'm so proud of them, but they wanted to start doing morning announcements and they asked - Marla sent an email and they asked if they could, and I thought that was a great idea.

so for the past week and a half, every morning it's Marla and Cece and Alexis, they come into my office and they write the notes of all the things they want to find and they go out into the school and they figure out what's all happening and what needs to be announced and birthdays that are happening and they set the tone in the culture of our school for every day, and it's so positive and so that would be one piece where they've been with us since sixth grade and now they're in tenth grade and their actions are just a testament to how the program works.

Can you tell a story or two, briefly, about one of your graduates and what they've chosen to do after they've graduated from Trek North?

Yes, so we have, well, we have some of our graduates that are in the community still and they're working in social work positions or teachers, and then we have some that are graduates of Hamline, and they are in the metro working in agencies, like Little Earth Neighborhood or places like that.

Do most of your graduates go to college?

Well, that depends on the year, and it depends on if it's a two-year or four-year, but I would say, well I should say this, to graduate from Trek North, you HAVE to be accepted to a college.

Oh, interesting.

Yes.

So in order to graduate from Trek North, you have to be accepted to a college.

Yes.

Could be two-year or four-year.

Yes.

Anywhere in the country, but you have to be accepted.

Yes.

Okay.

Yep, or the military.

Okay.

So in May there's an event, it's called "College Signing Day", and it was started by Michelle Obama, and we celebrate it every year as well, and that's when we have all of our seniors stand up and tell the student body where they're going to be next year and where they're going to go and just saying it out loud kind of makes it real.

That's exactly what I want to close with.

I'm super excited to hear about your plans.

Tell us all, what are your plans, because you're both Seniors, right, you're graduating this year, so that means you've been accepted.

Where have you been accepted?

What are you excited about with regard to your future?

Well I only applied to Hamline University because that's the college that I knew I wanted to go to and luckily, I got accepted.

Congratulations.

It's down in St. Paul and I really don't know what I want to go to college for, yet, but I think I will figure it out as time goes on.

I think that's a really cool feature of Hamline is that I don't have to decide right now because I may be a totally different person in a year.

Nice.

Alyssa?

For me I applied to a couple different schools, maybe like five.

I know a couple of them were in the twin cities area, and I applied to Hamline and I got accepted.

Congratulations.

I'm actually going to be going to Hamline next year as probably a Political Science major.

Fantastic.

Well, I want to thank you, Erica, for the work that you do on behalf of our community.

I want to thank you all for joining me today, it was great to meet you and I wish you the very best.

Thank you for having me.

Absolutely, and thank all of you for joining me once again.

You can continue the conversation on twitter, tweet me at currentspbs.

I'm Jason Edens, your host of Lakeland Currents.

Be kind and be well.

We'll see you next week.