Austin – 180 Degrees of Growth

This year in Technology was a delight as an instructor. All three classes showed significant growth. There were first-year students like James, who showed tremendous growth in focus and diligence over the year. David, a 2nd-year student, showed an intrinsic motivation to dedicate himself to improving daily. Finally, the entire 3rd-year class, Daniel, Austin, Lilly, Jonathan, and Peter, worked remotely for local technology companies most of the year and did fantastic jobs. Their ability to adapt and grow was amazing! Each student worked on a different project, from database assignments to internet research to Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

One class member’s growth was exceptionally notable, not because of quality, attitude, or speed but because of his emotional and professional advances over the school year. Austin started the year requiring reminders to stay focused and on task. He needed help with motivation and initiative. Sometimes, he would get frustrated, and his team spirit would suffer. But, by the end of the school year, Austin found joy and satisfaction in his work. He stayed positive and focused on the tasks at hand.

By the second semester, Austin had improved so much that he was privileged to be selected to work for a brand-new Occupational Experience site, Ion Education (ion-k12.com). Ion Education works with school districts nationwide to track the progress of every student in each district. The company knows it’s easy for school districts to notice which students are wildly successful and which are failing, but so often, some students perform just enough not to fail. Because these students aren’t “problem kids,” they fall through the cracks, and the schools aren’t successful in educating them. Ion Education gives each student a “credit score,” allowing school districts to quickly and easily assess which non-failing students are overlooked or neglected. Austin and another student were assigned to work on the back-end of Ion Education’s software to help in this process.

It was a joy to hear from Austin’s supervisors about how well he was doing on the project. Austin stayed focused, working state by state through every school district in the country. The supervisors had to unexpectedly prep his work further in advance because he was getting through all the school districts in a state faster than expected!

Austin progressed so well in his technical abilities and interests that when he had downtime, he enjoyed learning about animation. He enjoyed it so much that he breezed through two entire Adobe Animate textbooks in one school year!

While all of our students grew tremendously this year in the Shepherds College® Technology Department, Austin’s growth was unmatched. As instructors, we are not only proud of the growth in our students, but also thankful for the role we play in making an impact on their lives.