On June 3, as summer beckoned and high school loomed on the horizon, Egan students prepared to leave junior high behind. It was the school’s 10th annual Portfolio Day, and the freshly minted teens looked back on their two years at Egan with pride in their accomplishments, gratitude toward their teachers and a little regret.
Portfolio Day is a state occasion. It is the time when nattily dressed students, by threes and fours, reflect on their best work for a few adults who volunteer to listen carefully and reflect in turn.
Volunteer Risa Biggar said the program, introduced by Principal Brenda Dyckman, is unique to Egan. Dyckman’s hope, expressed in the letters she sends to volunteers, is that keeping a portfolio of accomplishments and reflections to be shared with interested adults “will increase student motivation, build a sense of accomplishment and foster community involvement with the school.”
Her plan seems to be working.
“At first I thought Portfolio Day was a waste of time,” said Amy Rice. “You write reflections at the end of the year when you’re already so busy. But once you’ve actually thought about what you’ve done and accomplished, it’s a pretty good feeling: ‘Wow! I did that!'”
Brad Greathouse pointed out, “When you get to seventh grade, it’s something totally new.”
Nick Steinhilber began explaining the portfolio method. “In seventh grade, you write a few paragraphs describing what you’ve done or learned every quarter or semester or year, depending on the class.”
Brad jumped in. “It’s neat. You have to reflect on every project after you finish it. Like technology exploration – we did bridge building and made water-powered rockets. We learned about motion and inertia and Newton’s Law and designed our own roller coaster with a computer program called Roller Coaster Tycoon.”
“We made these aerodynamic, carbon-dioxide cars,” Nick added. “And boxes and a birdhouse. We studied Darwin and life science – plants and stuff – and astronomy and how astrology is pseudoscience – and chemistry.”
Amy summed it all up. “Egan was a lot of fun. I don’t want to leave. I feel really comfortable here, like it’s a second home.”
Brad agreed. “It also prepared us really well for high school. I wish it was three years.”
“It’s the No. 1 school in the state, too. It’s a place I’ll never forget,” said Nick.
How it’s done
English teachers Rosemary Garcia and Katie Beman helped Biggar coordinate the event. The English teachers maintain a central filing system for the students’ reflections, Beman said, and make sure the other teachers remind their students to write them.
Biggar said, “The idea of the presentation is to allow the students to dwell on their strengths, reflect on their academic growth and obtain positive feedback from an adult other than a parent or teacher. Many former Egan students say they drew on their Portfolio Day experience when they later interviewed for jobs or colleges.”
Lucia Steinhilber, Nick’s mother, was an enthusiastic first-time volunteer for the program. “I’m so impressed,” she said. “It’s a wonderful experience. I’d do it again.”
Inside three portfolios
Torrey described himself as athletic and hardworking. A wave splashing across his portfolio made it clear he is a surfer; a racquet showed his enthusiasm for tennis and a drawing of a guitar his love of writing music.
Emily said she has a big imagination and loves to laugh. Her portfolio declaimed that she loves acting, enjoys shopping, cares for a dog and a cat, and gets rid of stress on a treadmill.
A corner of a report card drawn on Roshan’s portfolio announced that she understands the importance of good grades for getting into a good college. A paintbrush, a musical note, sports images, candy and a heart rounded out the picture.
All three students said they had learned teamwork from working on group projects. Torrey said he “(grew) as a person” while at Egan and improved his writing. Emily said she made many new friends and learned that “you can have two friends who are totally different.” Roshan learned organizational skills and how to keep track of work for seven classes.
Emily is a researcher. She completed two seventh-grade science projects on disease – one on ulcerative colitis and another on sickle cell anemia – but she also researched all the other diseases on the teachers’ list. Her history project was to write an essay on whether she would trust Jefferson or Hamilton to govern the country. She chose Jefferson “because Hamilton was an elitist,” she said. “It’s like the difference between a movie star and a farmer.”
Spanish and math were Roshan’s favorite subjects. Her seventh-grade science project was a study of hemophilia. She also did lab reports on natural selection and hunter-gatherers, who “had a harder life than we do and not much of the pleasures we have.”
The adults who were privileged to hear these teens’ presentations reflected that they could handle anything that high school might throw their way.
