Stepping Up

Stepping into her new role as Supervisor of Instruction, Kristyn relies on more than seven years as a founding Special Education teacher and Partnership Coordinator to help bring real-world learning into every Building 21 Allentown classroom. This past year, Kristyn helped teachers and partners pivot to virtual career exposure experiences, allowing students to intern at Lehigh Valley Health Network and work with Olympus mentors in an engineering design studio.

“Instruction is everything. Creating relevant and engaging instruction for kids that allows choice and the development of their passions is central to our model. This new role allows me the opportunity to push into classrooms and work alongside teachers to ensure that kids are getting those experiences, and that they’re built meaningfully into the curriculum. This is where my heart has always been.”

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Jawon pursued his interest in animation with his mentor, Sean Tate, a professional animator who also teaches a class at Building 21 Allentown. This dynamic duo spent hours together online perfecting animations and business strategy. Last year, in addition to helping complete an animation project, Jawon explored character, logo, and business card design. He learned ways in which he could use his art skills to engage in the business world and helped Sean with his animation design projects.

 “Working as a virtual mentor was a gratifying experience for me. It was a pleasure working with Jawon, an enthusiastic, talented, and willing student.”

— Sean

 “My virtual internship was an enjoyable and productive experience because I was able to explore my future in animation and business. I learned so much from Mr. Tate and am grateful for the opportunity to help with his projects and learn more about his business.”

— Jawon

While learning virtually from home for most of the year, Gabriella challenged herself with both a virtual internship in psychology and an AP Literature course. Adding these rigorous experiences to the demands of virtual learning tested Gabby’s discipline and pushed her to grow as a learner. Her accomplishments earned her a spot in the Community College of Philadelphia’s Senior Year Only Program where, while completing her senior year requirements, she will earn dual enrollment credits for college.

“The most challenging part of last year’s internship was being the first and creating the prototype. There was no template and there was the added uncertainty of being virtual. Nevertheless, I had to step out of my comfort zone, taking a shot in the dark. That step helped me discover my passion for social work.”

When asked what stands out from last year’s virtual internship pilot, Nabeehah shares “it worked!” With a team of committed volunteer mentors willing to give a virtual model a try, Nabeehah facilitated Philadelphia’s pilot internship program. She stepped up to connect 14 juniors with mentors from across a dozen industries. Together, the students and mentors overcame the challenges of connecting virtually. The students developed professional competencies and skills and learned what’s possible for them in the real world.

“While we couldn’t fill the total void that learning from home created, the virtual internship program gave our students some purpose and a unique learning opportunity at a time when everything was so challenging.”

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Sandra has played a role in every Building 21 innovation and learning model iteration. This year, she stepped up to lead our newly launched Learning Innovation Network and will focus on growing our network of schools and stakeholders committed to advancing personalized and competency-based learning. As the co-author of the Building 21 Competencies and Continua, Sandra is also stepping up her writing with a blog series for the Aurora Institute, which takes readers through the process of CBE transformation.

“We have learned so much over the last eight years and we believe we are in a unique position to help others who are trying to do this work. There is still so much to learn so instead of doing this work in silos, we are building a network of schools and districts committed to personalized and competency-based learning so we can grow this movement together.”

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Focused on earning an Associate’s Degree along with a high school diploma, Kevaney began taking courses through Lehigh Carbon Community College’s Early College program, a partnership with the Allentown School District. Now a senior, Kevaney is pursuing a pathway in engineering. He is also passionate about real estate and clothing brand design. Looking back at last year, Kevaney sees his personal growth as a learner as the best part of stepping up to the challenge of dual enrollment.

“One of the ways I stepped up over the last year is in managing my own time. Time management is an important skill that you need to excel in college, because you feel like you have a lot of time but in reality, you don’t. You will be swallowed up by the amount of work if you aren’t focused on the tasks at hand. My advisor at Building 21 always encouraged me to do my best and taught me a lot about this competency .”