A real world education

Marisa O’Neil

Most people know Newport-Mesa’s high schools -- Corona del Mar,

Newport Harbor, Costa Mesa, Estancia and Back Bay/Monte Vista.

Back Bay/Monte Vista?

The two high schools in one, Monte Vista for independent study and

Back Bay for alternative education, just moved into newly refurbished

classrooms at its campus off Irvine Avenue. There, students who don’t

fit in at a traditional high school because of work schedules, world

travel, reading levels or just because they don’t feel comfortable,

can still get an education.

And in Cheryle Markel’s Back Bay 11th-grade English class, she

makes sure that their education prepares students for life and work

in the real world.

“We’re going to go around the class and introduce ourselves,”

Markel one day last week told her students, who sometimes rotate in

and out of her class. “We’re treating this as a work setting. Maybe

there’s someone you don’t get along with, but that person may turn

out to be your work partner for 10 years. That’s why it helps to get

to know people better.”

Because public speaking is most people’s No. 1 fear, Markel said,

she encourages students to get as used to the practice as possible,

even letting students “teach” part of the class each day. On this

day, 17-year-old Gabriel Felix took his place at the overhead

projector.

Felix quietly read sentences aloud and told the class to use

conjunctions to combine them into one sentence. After he successfully

did the first couple himself, hands went up around the class and he

shyly pointed at students to give their answers, looking to Markel to

confirm their answers were correct.

Next, Markel told the class to write down three key points while

they watched a short video about the travels of Odysseus. While it

ran, some students furiously took notes, some stretched sleepily and

one rested his head on his desk for a quick catnap.

What, she asked after the film, did they learn?

“He went on a boat back home to Troy,” 17-year old Colin McGuire

said.

“He lands on the island of Cyclops, the one-eyed beast” added

17-year-old Cody Dickenson.

“And who’s Cyclops’ dad?” Markel prompted.

“Poseidon,” Cody and a couple other students blurted out.

“And what’s another name for him...?” Markel pushed.

Silence.

“...with a pitchfork...?” she continued.

“Neptune,” more students called out.

“See, you know all of this,” Markel encouraged. “This isn’t just

about Odysseus. This is an example of cultural literacy, which you’ll

go on to use in your lives and in your work.”

From there, the students broke into two-person groups for a

novel-reading project. Each of the pairs sat around the class,

working together to identify and define new vocabulary words,

discussing the book as a team.

For now, the students only have to partner up for 10 minutes --

not 10 years. But it’s a start.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot

education writer Marisa O’Neil visits a campus in the Newport-Mesa

area and writes about her experience.