The Portland Press Herald / The Maine Sunday Telegram

Film crew capturing essence of excellence

KELLEY BOUCHARD

— By

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John Patriquin /Staff Photographer;Thursday ,Dec.10, 2009. Gil Nobrega and Kevin Kalunian are part of a documentary film crew with the George Lucas Educational Foundation filming teacher Gus Goodwin and student Abby Burnett at the King Middle School in Portland today.

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John Patriquin /Staff Photographer;Thursday ,Dec.10, 2009. Kevin Kalunian and Gil Nobrega are part of a documentary film crew with the George Lucas Educational Foundation filming Nasar Zackaria and Asiya Ali and other students at the King Middle School in Portland today.

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Staff Writer

PORTLAND — A documentary film crew is visiting King Middle School this week, reminding the students and staff that what they do every day is considered special on the national level.

''Sometimes we don't realize how lucky we are and how unique our school is,'' said Karen MacDonald, a seventh-grade language arts teacher at King.

The George Lucas Educational Foundation, started by the filmmaker of ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones,'' is focusing on King as part of a series on ''Schools That Work'' across the United States.

King, which became a groundbreaker when it adopted expeditionary learning 17 years ago, will be featured on the foundation's Web site and in its magazine, Edutopia, in late February.

The Web site will include instructional videos and professional support for other educators who are interested in the King's use of technology and interdisciplinary, project-based teaching methods.

The foundation last focused on King in 2002, after students started using laptops as part of a statewide program for public middle schools.

''Few schools have integrated laptops into expeditionary learning the way King has,'' said Kathryn Baron, a writer and editor of Edutopia magazine. ''The Lucas foundation promotes what works in public education in a very real and practical way. With this series, we're telling educators, 'Here's a really good idea and here's how you can transfer it to your school.' ''

Also this week, the film crew interviewed staff members at Casco Bay High School, Portland's four-year-old expeditionary high school, and Baron visited Mount Ararat Middle School in Topsham, where some teachers use technology in learning projects.

Lucas started the California-based foundation in 1991 to promote collaborative teaching and experiential learning in public schools.

''My own experience in public school was quite frustrating,'' Lucas said on the foundation's Web site. ''I was often bored. Occasionally, I had a teacher who engaged my curiosity and motivated me to learn. Those were the teachers I really loved. I wondered, 'Why can't school be engaging all of the time?' ''

The foundation promotes innovative educational methods that include interdisciplinary study, in-depth project-based learning, emphasis on social and emotional skills, technology integration, and comprehensive assessment of students' performance, such as public presentations and work portfolios.

On Thursday, the film crew captured several King teachers planning a lesson that's part of a two-month interdisciplinary ''expedition,'' an in-depth study of the constructive and destructive roles that bacteria play in the world.

It's a high-minded topic that's being taught through every subject -- science, math, language arts, social studies, music and art. The teachers make a complicated concept accessible by presenting it in kid-friendly ways, such as an art/science/writing project that asks students to create a comic book superhero based on a bacterium.

Such projects take a lot of planning, and the teachers at King count themselves fortunate to be given several hours each week to prepare lessons, as individuals and in interdisciplinary teams.

In those hours, the teachers collaborate on every facet of an expedition. They incorporate extra help for students who are learning to speak English or have special education needs. And they openly critique what's helping students learn and how they can teach more effectively.

King Principal Mike McCarthy said the results of expeditionary learning are apparent in students' performance, noting the school's above-average test scores on the latest Maine Educational Assessment.

The film crew from the Lucas foundation is focusing on the work that brings those results.

''Everybody talks about doing project learning. These guys have perfected it,'' said Ken Ellis, executive producer of the film crew. ''It's unusual to see this level of planning in a public school. It's smarter and it's harder, but the payoff is big.''

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com