GREEN BAY, Wis. — Many Wisconsin students will head back to school after Labor Day but some Green Bay students were already hitting the books during the summer.
One of those students was Angelina Webster. She spent this summer solving math problems.
“This extra help is going to benefit me by giving me a head start on my final senior year,” Webster said.
Webster is a student at the Northeast Wisconsin School of Innovation, or N.E.W. School. She said she spent her summer learning because the extra work is adding up to a better future.
“I’m going to be in college and go for my accounting degree and I’m doing that just to have a better place in life in the future,” Webster said.
Webster will be the first in her family to go to college. Principal Jason Johnson said this makes him proud because it’s his goal for students to don the cap and gown.
“In the last eight years, we’ve had over 900 seniors graduate who are at risk of not graduating,” said Johnson.
Johnson also spent his summer in school.
He and his staff put in long summer hours refreshing student skills and working on student learning targets for the upcoming school year.
“They’re able to catch up, they’re able to make those gains that they didn’t have the time for, or they weren’t ready for, for the other group of students are taking the opportunity to move faster, move forward,” said Johnson.
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) Early College Manager Miranda Schornack said students who take advantage of summer learning improved their chances of succeeding in high school.
“There’s a lot of research in K-12 education that schools that are modeled on a 12-year calendar, those students perform more consistently at higher levels than students who have a summer break of two to three months,” Schornack said.
N.E.W. is located on the NWTC’s Green Bay campus. Johnson said being located there has motivated students to pursue higher education.
“We’ve had 140 college credits earned and dual credit, so our students are taking classes each day during the week,” said Johnson.
“My parents are really proud of me for what I’m doing,” said Webster.