At the beginning of the school year, students at Advanced Technologies Academy (A-TECH) were presented with a unique question – how could our school survive a zombie apocalypse?
It may sound like the plot for a blockbuster movie or popular television show, but in reality, it was an academic assignment intended to develop students’ problem-solving skills. Students spent six months on their projects before presenting their work to parents and community leaders at the Project-Based Learning Showcase in January.
“It started with my first year at A-TECH as principal,” Dr. Anthony Marentic said. “We kept hearing the same language – cross-curricular learning.”
The school launched the second-annual project-based learning project by showing its 1,200 students a video produced by A-TECH video production students.
“It was a great way to roll out the project and pique the students’ interest,” A-TECH Magnet Strategist Kelli Workman said.
Working in small groups based on programs of study, students conducted research and developed innovative solutions to transform the school into a safe haven until students and staff could be rescued by crews from Nellis Air Force Base. Students were given 13 working sessions during the school day, without disruption to their academic classes by using A-TECH Time, to focus on their projects.
In many cases, groups focused on how they could use their classroom lessons to keep the campus secure while helping students remain healthy during the hypothetical apocalypse.
A group of Biomedical students concentrated on building a schedule to keep the school’s restrooms clean and available for students around the clock. Another team focused on general medical care and a third developed a plan for an early zombie virus detection system.
“I’m very proud of them because they have never done anything like this before,” Biomedical/science teacher Dr. Alana Milich said. “I love that my students thought outside the box.”
To keep students motivated throughout the process, the school administrators, with help from Nellis Air Force Base staff, prepared two other videos related to the hypothetical apocalypse.
The Business Marketing and Management students developed a self-governance and economic system that could be utilized inside the school throughout the situation.
All the while, a team of Engineering students focused on how to move critical resources through the building in an emergency as well as ways to protect doors and windows from a fictional zombie horde.
Cybersecurity students looked at resources available to them that would allow a way to communicate an SOS message to Nellis Air Force Base with phone lines and cell phone towers out of service. Another cybersecurity team designed an app that allows students and staff to check the status of doors throughout the campus to determine the safest paths through the campus.
As the group of parents and community leaders toured the school and listened to student presentations, they had a chance to experience the students’ creativity firsthand and offer feedback on areas where their projects “glow” and where they had room to “grow.”
School leaders said the project is meant to prepare the students for college and future careers where assignments will focus on problem-solving rather than multiple-choice tests.
To learn more about A-TECH, visit www.atech.org/
