Sweetwater County School District (SCSD) No. 2 is one of nine school districts selected for the RIDE Pilot supporting Student-Centered Learning.  

“Wyoming’s Future of Learning”, a collaboration between Governor Mark Gordon, Superintendent Megan Degenfelder, the Wyoming Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the University of Wyoming College of Education, recently announced that nine school districts that have been accepted into the RIDE Pilot supporting Student-Centered Learning, according to a press release.

Seventeen school districts across the state responded to the call for applications, reflecting strong interest in the pilot program. The Collaborative reviewed and voted unanimously to include nine districts in the first year of the pilot. These districts – (Albany 1, Converse 1, Laramie 1, Lincoln 1, Park 6, Park 16, Sweetwater 2, Teton 1 and Weston 7) provide statewide representation and include both urban and rural communities.

The pilot allows participating districts to engage in more student-centered learning design through four areas of focus: competency-based learning; flexible pathways; personalized learning; and student choice, according to the release. Proposals from the grantee districts are diverse in their approaches and build upon areas of focus aligned with their communities needs and goals.

“I am sure each school district in the grant has a different path they are taking,” SCSD No. 2 Superintendent Craig Barringer said. “For SCSD No. 2 we believe it is important to provide real job experiences. Instead of learning about what is expected of them in the workforce they are gaining frontline experience of what it is like to be a nurse, store manager, an accountant, a teacher, etc.”

SCSD No. 2 will begin planning in the fall for this program with the goal of implementing the initial program in the second semester. The program will focus on job and career training for seniors and possibly juniors, Barringer said.

“We hope to work with local employers to have students job shadow them to learn more about the expectations and ‘real world’ work environments,” Barringer said.

The district’s long-term goal will be to work with grant coordinators to implement career-readiness programs in the middle of school as well. The long-term program would allow for hands-on programs at Lincoln Middle School that would fit sixth through eighth grade students.

“We are very appreciative of the work and planning that has gone on ahead of this grant,” Barringer said. “We appreciate the work that was done by the Career Technology Education teachers in our district to lay out the vision and for the leadership the Southwest Wyoming Manufacturing Partnership has provided us in getting started.”

As with any new program, there may be changes or adjustments made.

“We will evaluate as we go through the process of implementation and after we have students participating in the program,” Barringer said. “What it looks like on paper today will likely evolve as we learn how best to work with our community and students.”

Taycie Fox (right side on the computer) is one of our first students to learn through our Work Based Learning project. 

She is assisting in spay/neutering operation.

In the background Kalen Marketing is filming the surgery that will be used as a part of a promotional spot celebrating public education in Wyoming.

Updated Summer of 2024