High School for Riders

[T Creech]

I have been kind of busy lately working on something on a project that seemed kind of cool... maybe interesting to some of you maybe not.

If you are in California you may benefit, and one of the only things besides discussion forums and facebook that are free for riders.

I used to do quite a bit with the nationals, ATV, and a lot of other stuff... now I do other things... but always I have been a teacher, Math (I know - ewww).

So, I have this kid who started cutting pictures out of motorcycle and atv magazines when he was old enough to talk me into buying them and taping them all over his bedroom. He advanced into putting all kinds of stickers on things, and yes he rode too. We did encourage him to beleive in himself. He did. And we live in the weirdest part of the country to try to do this sport - you thought your area was wierd - try Northern California - even LA has more places to ride - legally... Anyway, in the olden days, back in 1996 or so, there was some racing up this way... and we had a lot of fast guys up here, still do. This child of mine decided that he wanted to race nationals, yet he was in 9th grade. This didn't work well together. You can't be gone for weeks during the school year, so we stuck to local races for a couple of years.

Right about this time of the year, in 1998 he talked his Dad and I (actually he and a friend buddied up against the parents... we were out-voted) - into making the trek to Loretta's, all the way from extremely Northern California. It took almost 4 days to get there. He won the race. In the 250 A Class. His first time at a National. Some of you may know the rest of his story...

But this leads me into the reason for why I'm bothering with all of this 'STUFF' now. Prince Charming, was still in high-school, and in NorCal, and contracted to race the nationals. Wow. For our family this was a pretty big deal, since we didn't grow up around all this (other than the pictures taped to the wall in his room), and he still had to go to school and we had to figure out how to afford all of this, even with sponsors.

So, the school thing worked out because I'm a teacher. Turns out a lot of the racers are doing home-school or charter school now. Also turns out that's what I'm teaching. But, most schools don't teach what a student who is into motorsports really is interested in, and they don't offer classes filled with kids that also race, and also want classes that count toward a diploma, or college, or tech school, that have something to do with the 'life' they intend to lead.

So, I designed one. With a lot of input from a LOT of industry people, Pros, Factory people, and people who have made a business out of the 'business', we came up with a cool curriculum and even cooler teachers, and it's virtual, but live, so students don't have to do things all by themselves. But they can be anywhere if they race a competetive season.

We are a free public school, in California, so you have to be a resident of California. And I know a lot of you don't live here.

Thanks for reading about this. I hope a school like this goes nationwide someday so riders everywhere can be involved.

If you want more information you can see the website at www.pacwestacademy.com

Ride safe.

[Pappy]

Dana told me he couldnt add or subtract:eek: :D :blah:

Cool concept. Home schooling has been gaining alot of ground the past few years, wish we had something like this out here.

[T Creech]

Pappy!

You are still alive and kicking... and still completley full of it.

I'm fairly certain his mathematical indecision was dictated upon situational extremes.

Hence, the reason to put a choice out there that can connect the dots conceptually for kids who actually have a plan and have goals that may not coincide with what the typical high-school plans revolve around.

Ah well, it is nice to see your name. You are keeping all these younguns in line?

[Pappy]

I think I am, but they might be pullin' the wool over my eyes:p

The last time I saw Dana, he sat down next to me at a press intro and started talking away. It wasn't until someone asked him for an autograph that I realized it was indeed him! He had his hair cut normal and I hadnt seen him in several years:p He is a good kid, always like hearing of him doing well!

I know alot of the top bike youth riders do alternatve type schooling, I could see the atv side heading that route as well as the sport grows

[T Creech]

Hubby and I own an automotive collision repair facility (fancy name for body shop), so we have strong ties to the tech-industry no matter what...

This particular venture, this high-school, is for any student 9th-12th who is inclined toward motorsports or automotive industries. Basically we all have the same ideas, same goals, a high school diploma has mandatory requirements.... after that, we are implementing electives, which are also required for graduation, that are industry related, so they make sense for this student population. But we aren't leaving the kids to figure it out on their own. That's too much to ask for a high-school kid. Teach themself Algebra? Come-on. Evaluate their own Expository essay? Makes no sense at all.

We have been doing this kind of education with the general population of our school for 4 years. I finally convinced the school board to open a 'learning center' exclusively for this motorsport student population.

It will be the very first of it's kind anywhere. And it's free.

And we have a sense of humor... and turn out 'real' people, for the most part.

And yep, the kid is 28 now... driving Monster Trucks. And he does look pretty normal (I guess)... but then we live in NorCal... weird is pretty weird up here.

[motofreak2772]

This is awesome. But no calculus? Whats so different from regular home school?

[T Creech]

It's the Fall semester. If we have enough request for Calculus, we will happily provide it.

Last year we offered Trigonometry the last semester, and have a group this year that would indeed like either Calculus, Statistics or Baby Linear Algebra.

To justify a live class we need to have 6 students. Right now we have 5 interested in an upper level mathematics course.

Give a yell if you are interested, because we seriously cool things with our math classes...

Specifically riders may be interested in the Mainstream Math class, because it's a 'designer' course. We will be rebuilding National Tracks based on their course design and resources in their geographic areas. There will be specific budgets to adhere to, and each student will play a 'role' in the building of the track and be responsible for all aspects of their part of the project.

Students are required to have a C or better in Algebra 1 and Geometry is recommended prior to taking this course.

All students that took Algebra 2 last year, and transferred to the JC or CSU and took the placement test (required in California for admittance) placed straight into College Algebra or Statistics. This the 'open gate' to any math course the college has to offer at the undergraduate level. What this means is that our math classes are aligned with the level of understanding and the material that we cover, live - with real teachers who have math degrees, is the level that the college wants to see. Most of the high-schoolers around here end up taking College Algebra again if they are lucky, usually it's a level or two lower.

So, we are NOT the average home-school, but then we don't think bad things about the any other school. Truly there is a place for everyone. We just offer something 'else', for a unique student, who may or may not be right for our program.

We only have room for a small number of students, and are not looking for a lot of students. I know Harlen from way back, and wanted to start with his 'riders' because I truly like Harlen. He's a good guy, one of the few (Pappy is good also - don't let him kid you).

I'm pretty sure that registration will be full pretty soon.

I do appreciate your observation about Calculus.

You might also notice that we have all the Science courses listed for a charter school - this is a rareity for charter school - especially online... and you also might notice that as opposed to most charter schools, all our courses are taught by teachers with a high school teaching credential - a single subject teaching credential, in the subject we are teaching. A lot of charter schools get by with something called 'Highly Qualified Teachers'.

What this means is that the teacher is a Teacher, but they were trained to teach K-6 or K-8, but can legally teach K-12. They maybe wanted to teach 3rd grade, and did all their training there. An administrator made a judgment call, based on a lesson plan or other evidence that the teacher submitted, that they should be able to teach other grades and other subjects as well, and gave them the status, "Highly Qualified". If that teacher was to go to any other school district, they would have to go through the entire process again - they wouldn't be 'Highly Qualified' at another school.

I know I have a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics, and a Single Subject Teaching Credential for teaching High School. Legally I can teach kindergartners. This is NOT my happy place. Cute, for about 20 minutes... after that I have no idea what to do... what if they all start crying!? But turn me loose with 7th-12th graders, no problemo.

So there IS a difference, and knowing what that difference is makes you a better consumer. Know who is educating you, if you happen to be in a charter school. This isn't to say that there are not many fine 'Highly Qualified' teachers out there. Not at all! Many of them are really, really good. It is simply a different option that we are offering, a factory mechanic verses your cousin who has been fixing carbs for 2 years and doing a good job.


** BTW: I'm a 'Highly Qualified' Teacher - meaning I can legally teach other sujects besides Math - but I really not the right person to teach English... case in point - this post...

[ATVMX33]

i just graduated homeschool and it made it alot easier to race...especially cause i could ride everyday and train alot more

[T Creech]

Congrats!

I see you are in PA.

Was it a virtual one? I know there are a few good ones.

The thing is there are a bunch of home-schools and virtual schools now... I think there are a lot of different models, and the people that I talked to in SoCal (where a lot of tracks are) told me that most of the ones available to them had packets to fill in and a video to watch online. Sometimes a discusssion board to talk on, but rarely live interaction.

For the most part they wished there was more interaction with their peers and even the teachers... not lecturing... but interaction.

But virtual - home-school - charter - is the best way for a competitive season.