Turning a spark to a passion

BY JO MAHLUM

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ALGOMA– Algoma Venture Academy (AVA) was initially brought into the community in 2021 when there were many student-led initiatives taking place in the Algoma School District.

“The students did not have a dedicated time during their school day to work on these initiatives and were not receiving credit for the work they were putting into them,” Abigail Robinson, lead educator and co-founder of AVA, stated.

“There was a need for a space for these students to be able to continue to change their communities and better integrate that into their school day, as well as receive Wisconsin State credit for the incredible changes they were making,” AVA Principal Katie Horn added.

Students in AVA are required to master the same state standards as all other students.

In AVA, the students, themselves, are aligning Wisconsin State Standards to their semester, or year-long projects/initiatives.

Students spend the majority of their semester dedicated to ensuring proficiency in these targets and making connections within the community for a shared vision in order to be advanced on their state standards.

For standards that cannot be met, they partner with Rural Virtual Academy to ensure that the students are getting the content that they need in core subject areas.

AVA is the only charter school in Kewaunee and Door counties.

The community initially had a lot of questions about what creating a charter school would look like, but ultimately decided to take a leap of faith when they applied for a grant to open the school.

“It was unknown territory for everyone, but an opportunity to keep moving the work forward,” Robinson stated.

Horn addressed the growth in local organizations that have gotten involved with the students at AVA and how that has created more understanding.

“Although project-based and community-based learning is still not widely understood, more community members have been attending our project showcases to support the students and learn more about what we do,” she said.

Students are driven to participate in community projects that receive credit but also strive for connections and relationships within the community that are not credit-based activities.

Bi-weekly students are able to go out into the community to connect with others and share experiences.

“The students have gone to Sunshine Resources to play games and made connections with clients there. They helped stock shelves at Paul’s Pantry, planted trees at Horseshoe Bay Farms, planned and played games at local nursing homes, helped out with Door County Toys for Kids as well as partnered with Help of Door County to deliver things to people in need,” Robinson stated.

“Last year, there was a group of students that were very passionate about art and wanted to involve the community in some way. Yonder, a local art studio, had partnered with AVA in order to show them the process of how to create a mural as well as work with a local business owner to paint the side of their building,” Horn added.

“The students were able to use their personal experiences in the community to design the mural and then invited the community to paint it with them. All ages of community members showed up on the paint day and it was an incredible experience for all involved.”

Students in AVA are encouraged to find their passions or participate in various projects to find their spark which will often lead to a passion.

Horn said one of their middle school students, who had a passion for working with students labeled with special needs, would like to become a special education teacher in the future.

“She recognized a need for the students in the Algoma Middle/High School special education program to learn job and social skills and also build better connections within the school community,” she said.

“She had an idea to start a coffee cart, and after visiting other Kewaunee County schools, she had great connections to make her idea happen. Howl Brew Coffee Cart now runs twice weekly and has been an incredible addition to the middle/high schools.”

For more information, visit https://algomaventureacademy.org.