Page 13 - BusinessWest April 3, 2023

EDUCATION >>
Taking Themselves
More Seriously
Discovery High Students Gain an ‘Identity’ Through Early College
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
At first, Izabella Martinez said, she was somewhat intimidated by the prospect of taking college courses when she was only a freshman in high school.
But then, when she got into it, that apprehension soon melted away and was replaced
by a host of emotions and feelings, but mostly pride in accomplishment in taking, and doing well in, courses such as Introduction to Computer Technol- ogy, English 101, Art, Philosophy, Public Speaking, and what she considers her favorite thus far — Col- lege Writing.
“The teacher gave us a lot of freedom to write about what we felt passionate about,” said Mar- tinez, a student at Discovery Early College High School in Springfield, a unique learning center
that opened its doors in 2021. “I was able to improve my writing skills while also having creative freedom.”
Martinez believes she’ll have at least 24 college credits by the time she graduates from Discovery. But she’ll have much more than that. She’ll have a higher level of confidence and perhaps something even more important — higher aspirations when it comes to her career and what’s doable, and the wherewithal to get to where she wants to go.
And this, is a nutshell, is what Discovery High School (DHS), part of the Springfield Empower- ment Zone Partnership (SEZP) — an independently governed nonprofit established in 2015 as a col- laboration between Springfield Public Schools, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Sec- ondary Education, and the Springfield Education Assoc. — is all about.
It uses what’s called a ‘wall-to-wall’ model to build viable future career pathways for students
by enabling them to take college classes while in high school — and perhaps even earn an associate degree by the time they graduate — without having to pay for the college courses.
As he talked about the school, why it was creat- ed, and its overall mission, Matt Brunell, co-execu- tive director of the SEZP, said the inspiration came in the form of statistics showing that, while Spring-
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Izabella Martinez