About the DLC IDEA
The Digital Learning Commons (DLC) is proud to announce our first annual DLC IDEA—Innovative Digital Educator Award—for K-12 teachers, administrators and librarians at DLC member schools.
The DLC IDEA celebrates a Washington educator whose innovative use of DLC tools and resources exemplify our core value to support student achievement through powerful teaching and technology.
$2000 Prize
Dr. Synthia Parish-Duehn will be awarded her cash prize of $2,000 and will be recognized, along with all the other amazing applicants, at the DLC Innovation Celebration on June 24, 2009.
We are grateful to our sponsor, Aventa Learning, for supporting the inaugural 2009 DLC IDEA.
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Meet our 2009 DLC IDEA Winner!
“In short, the DLC has allowed Prosser Falls to become a school where students are begging to enroll, rather than begging to leave.”
- Dr. Synthia Parish-Duehn, Dean/Lead Teacher, Prosser Falls High School
The following is an excerpt from Synthia’s DLC IDEA application essay.
From closure to state accreditation with honors
The DLC has completely changed the way education occurs at Prosser Falls. A few years ago there was a discussion at the district level about whether or not Prosser Falls High School should be closed. It was decided that the school would be allowed the opportunity to restructure, improve, and prove it was worth keeping. It was a daunting task and only a short amount of time to accomplish it. Enter the DLC...the main arrow in our quiver of change. Not only did Prosser Falls successfully restructure itself, but was just this year awarded State accreditation "with honors". We are now a role-model for other schools. We could not have accomplished what we have without the DLC.
Altering the culture of a school
The entire school is better; there is just no other way to put it.
The DLC has allowed us to up the academic rigor of our course work. In turn the students have stepped up to the plate and raised their expectations for themselves. Students who in the past maintained a D grade point average are maintaining a C, and most often a B grade point average. Raising the rigor altered the "culture" of the school.
We are now a student-centered learning environment, whereas before it was teacher-centered. We meet with each student individually to discuss their goals. Then together we design an individual learning plan to meet those goals. We meet every month with each student to review their progress on their plan and to make adjustments if needed.
Our students are active consumers of knowledge, rather than passive recipients of facts. Most of our students now graduate with extra credit. Our students are also now teachers. Before, you would never see one student helping another one, unless it was to give an answer. Now they actually sit and teach their fellow students how to come up with the answer.
In short, the DLC has allowed Prosser Falls to become a school where students are begging to enroll, rather than begging to leave.
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