Washtenaw Technical Middle College (WTMC) is a unique high school that provides educational opportunities beyond the traditional offerings. Students experience full-time college coursework on the campus of its chartering agency, Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan. All graduates complete either an associate degree or a technical certificate in a career area.
WTMC developed an interdisciplinary 9th grade program focused on sustainability that was piloted in the 2012-13 school year. The program was structured as a series of in-depth investigations on food systems. In the first year, the program drew twenty-eight students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Teachers also noted a wide range in political and religious philosophies among the students.
To support the program, Creative Change provided teachers with a fully-developed module on food and energy systems. This module, available in Creative Change’s online Curriculum Resource Center, served as the basis of the course. Creative Change also provided on-site professional development and on-going assistance as teachers implemented the course. Supported by the module, students investigated the environmental, economic, and social aspects of the food system, and developed strategies to advance sustainability.
The teachers focused on the following areas in their disciplines:
Science: energy in food systems; life cycle analysis
English Language Arts: communication, rhetoric, literacy, vocabulary, critical analysis of media
Social studies: history of the food system, governance and citizen involvement, healthy food access, economics of food, perceptions and mindsets about food (e.g., comparing Depression-era focus on growing and conserving food to current patterns of consumption and waste).
Read the evaluation report for this initiative, which has grown to over fifty students.