DUBOIS – Have you ever considered what your passion is? If you had a choice and could do whatever you wanted with your life, what would you pursue? What do you love?
There is an old saying, do what you love and you’ll never have to work.
At the DuBois Middle School, teachers are helping students find what they love, their passion, and guide them in finding ways they can make that passion their life focus.
It began two years ago when English teacher Robyn Sankey Davis transferred from the high school to the middle school. She said she saw where students conducted a project each year for which they selected a topic, researched it and presented what they learned.
While she feels it is valuable to learn about the past, which had been the focus of the projects up to this point, she also felt it would be a good opportunity to choose something they loved and learn about it and, possibly, turn it into their future.
So, Davis sat down and came up with a plan for the students. The projects are done in four phases. The first is the history phase where students determine what it is that they love and where did that love begin, and also to learn more about the passion itself.
For example, a student might decide that he or she loves football, and would explore why they love the game and some of the history of the game.
The second phase is pursuit. The students then find two places to learn more about football: what is involved in learning the game, how can they get better at it or, if they so desire, how can they get involved in football without actually playing the game.
Third the students learn about success, they find someone who has done it and learn all about them and their success.
Again, for football they might choose a professional player or coach or someone else in the industry and learn about their lives and how they got where they are today. The students learn about the work involved and even different areas they could get into.
Finally, the students learn about the process where they find three jobs affiliated with the passion. They are to describe the jobs and the salary expectations and job demand. Students may find that while they might not be good players, they could work in public relations or as physical therapists.
Davis said if you love something, you can find a job that is part of that love. “The kids really get excited about it,” she said.
After the first year of doing this project, the other English teachers jumped on board, and this year the district adopted it as part of the curriculum and now all the eighth graders participate with the teachers working together on the project.
This year, the students created magazine articles about their projects instead of writing essays, and Davis said she was impressed with what they came up with.
One of the problems they have come up against, however, is resources. The resources in the school library are outdated, and she would like for the public to get involved and help by donating research materials.
She recently created a Donors Choice page to help raise funds and donations and while the page expired at the end of January, she said she may put up another one and make it more focused. The description for the page says: “My students need non-fiction books, biographies and encyclopedias for their Passion Research Project. These materials were chosen based on the students’ passions.”
Davis said she hasn’t received much feedback from the parents and she hopes the students share with their families what they are doing. One reason for this is that the school open house is held so early in the year they have hardly started their projects yet.
However, the feedback from the students has been positive. She said she cannot remember a day with the students complaining about the project, they all want to do it and it grabs and keeps their attention.
She also encourages the students to get back to her when they are older and let her know how what they learned affected their lives. She hopes the students find what they love and that it will motivate them to determine their path for the future.
Davis notes that what the teachers are doing with the students can be applied to older students and even college students and adults. “Anyone can take what they love and turn it into a lifestyle,” she said, noting that a friend of her family turned his love of football into a job with the Steelers and journalism. He travels with the team and interviews players and members of other teams.
Davis advises taking a closer look at what you like. “There are opportunities you may not be aware of,” she said.
