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Congratulations Class of 2007
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Colts Coach Talks Wellness, Academics, Football during Visit
Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy challenged Indianapolis Met students to lead healthier lives during a school-wide assembly on Nov. 14.
During a 20-minute special appearance at Indianapolis Met on Nov. 14, Colts Coach Tony Dungy talked wellness, academics and football. As the national spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association School Walk for Diabetes, Dungy urged students to become more physically active and to adopt healthier lifestyles.
“As a child, I learned from my parents just how important proper nutrition and fitness were in preventing me from feeling bad,” Dungy said. “I am just happy to offer encouragement to this school and others to participate in activities such as School Walks for Diabetes. It really brings together important information about the seriousness of diabetes, and it provides a fun way for children to get involved.”
Students Alex "Q" McClung, Tianna Liner, Andy Jansen and school leaders greeted Dungy when he arrived, and McClung presented the coach with an Indianapolis Met Pumas T-shirt.
Indianapolis Met students will participate in a walk for diabetes on Nov. 17.
Colts promote healthy eating, exercise during visit
Sixty freshmen picked up tips on leading healthier lives and exercise during a recent visit by Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gilbert Gardner and offensive tackle Mike Toudouze.
The visit was part of the Colts new “What Moves U” program designed to encourage healthy, active lifestyles among Indiana youth.
During the visit, Gardner and Toudouze led the students in several stretching exercises, shared the importance of goal-setting and encouraged students to eat healthy. The teachers and students also participated in a brief question-and-answer session with the players, asking them about their workout routines, training and experiences as NFL players.
Charter Students Earning College Credits in High School
When Erica White learned that she could take a college class – tuition free – while earning dual credits toward her high school diploma and college, she jumped at the chance. She's not alone. This year, students at Indianapolis Metropolitan High School, the public charter high school operated by Goodwill Education Initiatives, Inc., are taking advantage of a unique partnership the school has established with Ivy Tech State College, Marian College, University of Indianapolis and IUPUI to provide college experiences to sophomores, juniors and seniors. |
 Shaunette Byers, standing, college transition coordinator, goes over college course catalogs with students, from left, Ashley Williams, Kyla Hairston, Jasmine Brame and John Majors. |
Goodwill Education Initiatives pays 100 percent of the cost of the first course. Students then can apply for an internal scholarship to take additional college classes.
“The goal is to provide every one of our students with at least one college experience,” said Scott Bess, chief operating officer. “They are gaining exposure to higher education and learning to project themselves on a college campus. They see, ‘I can do this.' That's the key.”
The school's college transition curriculum includes studies such as college choices, essay writing for admissions applications, SAT and ACT test prep and college culture. In addition, students participate in summer immersion programs, college tours and fairs.
Felisha Dugan, a high school junior, is taking conversational Spanish at Ivy Tech. She needs two semesters of the language to apply for admission to the University of West Florida , where she plans to attend after high school graduation to study marine biology.
“It's been more of an introduction of how I'll be in college. I tend to procrastinate on homework sometimes, so this is good practice for learning how to get my work done,” she said.
Sophomore Chris Caldwell is taking a geology course at IUPUI two days a week. “I need that class to help with my major, meteorology,” he said. “Taking a college class is a good thing for us because it really gives you an idea of what you'll be getting into with college. It's been a good experience.”
The emphasis on higher education has been a key component of Indianapolis Met, which opened in 2004.
Cross country is schools' History was made at Indianapolis Met. Nine student runners have spent the start of the school year gearing up for a cross country meet, the schools' first competitive athletic event. |
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Athletic director Greg McClure announced the following members of the cross country team: Heather Forester, Felisha Dugan, Brianna Jones, Corey Brown, Brianna Cole, Tryone Cabarris, Leland Brown, John Majors and Baliah Brown. Coaches are Scott McClelland, Chad Grosz and Tom Kaster.
The cross country team participated in its first 5K-race on Oct. 5 against Irvington Community High School . They also participated at a meet at Ben Davis High School on Oct. 10.
Indianapolis Met began offering sports this year. Previously, students participated in intramural athletic events including flag football, community basketball tournaments and track and field competitions with other charter schools.
Cross Country team earns top spots in first meet
Congratulations to the boys' and girls' cross country teams for outstanding finishes in its first 3.1-mile run on Oct. 5 against Irvington Community High School. Jarret Duff, junior, finished in first place followed by Tyrone Cabarris, sophomore, in second place and Brian Cole, sophomore, third place. On the girls' side, junior Felisha Dugan placed third. Photo gallery.
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Suavey Turner, a junior, has been named a YMCA Student of the Year by the YMCA at the Athenaeum. Each branch honors one student every year. Suavey will take part in a luncheon on Nov.15. |
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Shaquayla Robertson, a junior, has been named a finalist in the Children's Museum 2006 Power of Children Awards. Shaquayla and other award recipients will be honored at the museum's Chairman's Dinner on Dec. 5. |
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Sophomore Clark Allen has been awarded a scholarship from the Soaring Society of America to fund flight instruction and assist with costs to complete his first solo flight in a glider this fall. |
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Junior Felisha Dugan recently attended a water testing conference for the Department of Natural Resources and is helping other Indianapolis Met students with environmental science studies. Felisha has begun a third internship at the Indianapolis Zoo, where she is doing water testing. |
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Monica Stephenson, a junior, was a featured speaker at the recent Marion County Commission on Youth (MCCOY) Bridging the Skills Gap Summit. Monica, who completed an internship in MCCOY's marketing department last year, spoke about the basic skills youth need to become successfully employed. She also talked about her experience as a student at Indianapolis Met and ways the Learning Through Internship curriculum has helped her reach education goals. |
Employers Embracing High School Interns
Curriculum provides students with real-world work experience
Internships have traditionally been associated with college students. But at Indianapolis Met, students are gaining valuable work experience in high school through the Learning Through Internship curriculum, and local employers are welcoming them to the workforce.
“Too many times businesses are looking for young people with experience to start out, but how are they to gain this experience?” asked Michael Perry, a mentor and children's librarian at the Warren branch of Indianapolis Marion County Public Library.
“Providing internships for high school students is important because it gives them a chance to have some real-world experience so they can present themselves as more qualified candidates to future employers,” Perry said.
Learning Through Internship is a key component of the curriculum at Indianapolis Met charter high schools. Students are paired with adult mentors and spend Tuesdays and Thursdays during the school year working as interns in their various fields of interest, from architecture and cosmetology to auto mechanics and veterinary medicine to engineering and law.
Students complete projects that teach them skills they need and help the mentor in his or her work. Students also earn academic credit for their work that meets Indiana academic standards.
During the 2005-06 school year, freshmen and sophomores spent an average of four months working with adult mentors as interns at more than 100 businesses throughout Indianapolis. Students logged more than 38,000 work hours.
”Internships allow our students to explore potential careers and courses they might study in college, but more importantly, they inspire our students to achieve academically because they are pursuing what they are interested in learning in a real-world setting,” said Patrick Hughes, internship coordinator.
Companies interested in providing internship and mentoring opportunities for Indianapolis Met students can contact Patrick Hughes, (317) 524-4041 or Chad Grosz, (317) 524-4045.
Internship fair attracts prospective mentors
Thirty-nine Indianapolis-area companies and not-for-profit organizations participated in a school-wide fair recently to share information with students about internship opportunities.
Immersion programs give students a glimpse into college life
Summer is a season when most teenagers cherish time away from school to sleep in and relax. But some Indianapolis Met students chose to spend the warm summer months experiencing college life. Jordan Bowling has always known he'd attend college after high school. But the 16-year-old junior didn't have a clue about what the college experience was like until he spent two weeks living and studying at Indiana State University, where he participated in the Summer Honors Program. |
 Justin Hayes, 15, cleans rocks collected from an archaeology dig at Fort Harrison State Park. Hayes was one of five Indianapolis Met students participating in the Martin University Next Step Education Through Archaeology Project. |
Bowling was one of 35 Indianapolis Met students who spent part of the summer in immersion programs at seven Indiana colleges and universities.
The students also attended Purdue University's ScienceScape Camp, Junior Executive Institute at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, Upward Bound on the campuses of IU Bloomington and IUPUI, the Indiana Association of Student Councils' Student Leadership Institute on the campus of Manchester College and took part in the Next Step Education Through Archaeology Project at Martin University and DeVry University's Passport 2 College summer program.
“My experience was valuable because my writing improved 100 percent,” said Bowling, who took a creative writing class. “I can express myself better now, and taking this class expanded my knowledge of the different types of writing.”
In the immersion programs, students studied business, completed college-level coursework, explored an array of academic interests and lived in residence halls. Some students received college credit for completing the immersion programs, and others earned credit toward high school graduation.
“It's getting the students onto a college campus and seeing what life there is like. They can visualize themselves being a college student,” said Scott Bess, chief operating officer of Goodwill Education Initiatives, Inc.
Chuck Watson , a junior, took a business class at Indiana University and learned how to write a business plan. “I loved it,” Watson said of his college immersion experience. “I definitely built a greater vocabulary and have a stronger work ethic. I should be more on task with my work at school.”
At Purdue, junior Kirsten Cowan took a biology course and learned about DNA. “College isn't easy, and there's a bunch of writing, but I had a great time,” she said.
Internationally-known poet, author leads reading group discussion
Mari Evans, an award-winning poet and author of children's books and plays, visited Indianapolis Met on Oct. 2 to lead a discussion with students about her two latest books, "Clarity as Concept and I'm Late". Students read both books as a group project. Photo gallery.
Indianapolis Met in the News
Sophomores recently completed the OneAmerica500 Festival Mini-Marathon. WTHR Channel 13 aired a story about the students' training program. Watch video.
24-Hour News 8 recently highlighted Indianapolis Met in a story about the popularity of charter schools. Click here.
Immersion programs give students a glimpse into college life
Summer is a season when most students cherish time out of school, but some Indianapolis Metropolitan Career Academy (Indianapolis Met) charter high school students have opted to spend the warm weather months experiencing college life.
Thirty-four Indianapolis Met freshmen, sophomores and juniors have been accepted into immersion programs at four Indiana colleges and universities.
The students will attend Purdue University's Science Camp, Indiana University Kelly School of Business' Junior Executive Institute, Indiana State's Summer Honors Program, Upward Bound on the campuses of IU Bloomington and IUPUI and the Indiana Association of Student Councils' Student Leadership Institute on the campus of Manchester College.
In these immersion programs, students will study business, complete college-level coursework, explore academic interests and live in residence halls. Some students will receive college credit for completing the immersion programs, and other students will earn credit toward high school graduation.
The goal of Indianapolis Met is for every student to graduate from high school and to attain some level of post-secondary education. Students take college-level courses and are connected to higher education opportunities.
Students participating in summer college immersion programs are: Shaquayla Robertson, Charles Watkins, Alex McClung, Sa'Brina Reeves, Dominique Davie, Sulaiman Talib, Jasmin White, Tiffany Gaddie, Celeste Furr, Baliah Brown, Jeff McNeil, Brittany Scott, Toyia Maxey, Jahalisa Puckett, Kirsten Cowan, Aq'eelah Hackett, Jessica Larkins, Monica Stephenson, Jordan Bowling, Alexis Rascoe, Ashley Coe, Amber Sanders, Ashley Sanders, Angle Sanders, Aisha Abdul-Hagg, Kayla Brown, Anzia Crenshaw, Ray Kirsch, Tiffany Crawford, Julie Donnefield, Michael Ray, Caleb Adams, Felisha Dugan and Jared Harper.
School's First Science Fair is an Empirical Extravaganza
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If you feed a mouse sugar, will it be too hyper to concentrate and make its way through a maze? What's the reactivity of household acids on copper? Can video games affect your body temperature?
These were a few of the questions Indianapolis Metropolitan Career Academy (Indianapolis Met) students tested recently at the charter high school's first science fair.
While some of the 74 sophomore scientists earned credit toward graduation, others met one or more state standards toward course credit for their work. All students agree they had fun proving - and in some cases, disproving - scientific assumptions.
For his interactive project, Thomas Gaddie hypothesized that some children's medicine on the market today looks a lot like candy, causing confusion and hazards to youngsters. Gaddie tested 20 elementary-aged children, showing them a side-by-side display of candy and medicine that looked like gummy bears, sweet tarts and brightly colored pills.
“Fourteen of the 20 kids surveyed thought that the medicine was candy,” Thomas said. “My hypothesis was correct. Children were confused. Because of this, there is a risk that children could ingest medicine that could be toxic, poisonous or even deadly.”
Jamie Stewart wanted to find out the effects of different liquids on plants. She selected three same-sized primrose plants, feeding the first plant a cup of orange juice, the second plant the same amount of water and the third plant a cup of a Coco-Cola®. She observed their color, fullness and growth for one week.
“It was a pretty fun experiment and kind of like a race to see which would grow faster,” Jamie said. “The plant that was fed water died, and the plant that received orange juice measured good growth, she said. “But the most surprising thing I found was that the plant that got the Coke® grew the most. I guess it was the caffeine and high fructose in the Coke® that gave the plant energy to grow.”
Jasmin White discovered the effects of lemon juice, Pepsi® and vinegar on a penny. “My hypothesis was that the Pepsi® would be the most corrosive, but it wasn't; it was the least. “Citric acid in the lemon is very powerful. It was the most corrosive. My hypothesis was wrong, but I still learned something and had fun at the same time,” Jasmin said. Photo gallery