CVU High School’s RISE Program Takes Student Engagement to the Next Level
By Tyler Cohen
For The Record
The last two weeks of the school year at Champlain Valley Union High School looked, sounded and even smelled quite different from the rest of the year.
While in certain classrooms students read quietly, discussed Socrates or learned about financial literacy, other rooms were filled with the aromas of everything bagels baking or strawberry-filled pastries. Some boomed with the sounds of a new CVU radio station or were awash with colorful stained glass and printmaking projects. Several even sat empty, with students on day-long field trips to tour businesses in Chittenden County, volunteer at area senior living communities or even travel abroad in France, Belize or Colombia.
This is RISE, which stands for Reflective Interest-Based Student Experiences, and the school-wide program ran from May 19 through June 11, offering students the opportunity to focus on experiences that are not otherwise available during the year. Some students take either an all-day course for the full two weeks or separate morning and afternoon sessions, while others pursue individualized learning experiences. It all culminates with end-of-session presentations throughout the school.
The goal of RISE, said coordinator Peter Booth, is to connect students to the pursuit of lifelong learning, thus increasing engagement and a desire to learn. And the key lies in offering a wide range of sessions and encouraging students to follow their interests.
“If you’ve been playing soccer since you were four years old, that’s not an interest—that’s an absolute passion,” said Booth. “An interest could be when you walk down the aisles of the grocery store and get curious about where the food comes from. It’s about curiosity or wonder.”
That’s where the more than 80 interest-based courses come in. Facilitated or taught by CVU educators, they run the gamut, from outdoor leadership, wilderness first aid and fly tying to French immersion, student teaching, the art of baking, architecture 101 and more.
“I think it’s great,” said freshman Leland Driscoll while on a visit to three small businesses in Richmond. “You get to have a choice and say what you want to do and experience something outside of the classroom.” Beyond Richmond, Driscoll’s Exploring Small Business in Chittenden County toured Beta Technologies, Green Mountain Floral Design, J Skis, Burton and more, learning lessons from entrepreneurs and CVU grads alike.
Jacob Osekowski, another freshman in the session, enjoyed the opportunity to step out of the classroom: “I think it’s great how we get to learn things that we wouldn’t normally learn but are still interested in—like for after high school.”
Partly inspired by Burlington High School’s Year-End-Studies program, librarian Peter Langella and visual arts teacher Abbie Bowker worked for many years to develop RISE, including through a fellowship from the Rowland Foundation to support school innovation. Langella and Bowker’s vision became reality in 2019, before the pandemic put the program on pause for a year. Booth took over in 2021, and has coordinated RISE since.
Falling after finals, RISE focuses more on student engagement than grading—or “learning something by doing something,” said Booth. “This gives students a chance to pursue something without the grade hanging over their head.”
For sophomore Cole Hart and junior Blake Companion, that meant spending their time student teaching at Hinesburg Central School. Alongside their former PE teacher Connor Trieb, Hart and Companion helped facilitate six PE classes each day.
“I like how it’s the last two weeks—so if there’s something that you haven’t gotten to do in school, you can explore it and really get to learn it,” said Companion. “I think it’s definitely a big part of the community.”
“I’d also say it’s a great opportunity to get out of your comfort zone,” Hart added. “I feel like it gives you the opportunity to try new things, so you just have to make the most of it.”
Tyler is the director of communications for the Champlain Valley School District (CVSD).