Aliyya Swaby Photo
Donaldson (left) performs under instruction of teacher Craggett (right)
Jayda Seth played the role of a girl seeking fame as an “online sensation” after high school graduation.
In real life, Seth was only getting her first taste of Hillhouse High School before matriculating in the fall.
Seth is one of about 60 rising Hillhouse freshmen who got a two-week taste of high school this summer in an inaugural “bridge” program to prepare them for the social and academic rigor of their next academic step. They showcased their final work at a celebration that transitioned into a cookout Friday morning on the Sherman Parkway campus.
“I wanted to know the school more,” Seth said, of why she chose to give up part of her summer vacation for the bridge program.
She comes to Hillhouse from Highville Charter School in Science Park. She liked it there, but she wanted to take dance classes at ACES Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) and Highville doesn’t yet have a partnership with the after-school arts program.
Hillhouse is split into three themed mini-academies with different career focuses. Seth chose to join the Law, Public Safety, and Health (LPSH) Academy.
“In case dance doesn’t work out, I want to be a nurse,” she said. She already got to test out Hillhouse’s art electives in the bridge program’s drama workshop, led by Jonah Craggett.
One of her co-stars in the play, Sharmaine Donaldson, said she came to the program because her other option was sitting at home doing nothing all summer.
Donaldson and Seth will be LPSH classmates together in the fall, and got a taste of that experience for the past two weeks.
Donaldson, Seth.
Both agreed they enjoyed the program’s algebra lessons, which delved deeper into the material than they had in their middle schools. Donaldson was a student at Barnard Environmental Magnet School, where she felt like her math teachers “didn’t get deeper into detail.”
Seth loves math. Teacher Eric Shetler took her aside to advance to Algebra 2, when the rest of the students were still on Algebra 1.
Shetler is a sophomore and junior math teacher in the IDEA Academy during the year, so he was excited to get the chance to meet the freshmen. The 60 students were spread out into three separate two-week sessions. Each day, students spent about three and a half hours in the classroom.
“It helps them to connect to each other,” Shetler said. Students have the chance to get “acclimated to the school climate” before the hallways are flooded with other students and teachers.
He used his math session at the bridge program to help students find their passion and develop a plan for how to get there in high school. He had his class come up with a few interests and then a potential job that fit one of those interests. He said he wanted them to realize that money wasn’t everything; education helps people grow money over time.
He said he looks forward to seeing students in the hallways and building relationships with them over the next few years.
This is a good start for these kids. The school board should demand that the superintendent provide the school with what it needs since he is responsible for the hell that school went through over the last few years. The Mayor should pitch in also. Glenn Worthy can do the job if he is supported. God bless him. He is one of our own graduates and it would be good for the community if he can save one of our most historic education institutions.