Last year, Nick Horton traveled to Rome. This year's destination: Over-the-Rhine.

        The 18-year-old senior is one of 725 Purcell Marian High School students who just completed “intersession,” a weeklong experience that takes students out of the classroom.

        Intersession, Purcell Marian's version of spring break, is a mix of hands-on learning and community service. Students were required to select from a menu of 35 ways to spend their week.

Purcell Marian High School students Devin King, Brittney Rogers, Alison Riker and Brittany Boles, all age 15, cleaned an apartment last Tuesday. (Stephen M. Herppich photos) | ZOOM |

        Some went to Rome to tour historical sites or to El Salvador to help earthquake victims. Others stayed home to learn how to build Web sites or help rehabilitate low-income housing in Over-the-Rhine.

        Increasingly, schools are sending students out into the real world.

        “Not all learning takes place in the classroom,” said Jan Kennedy, Purcell Marian principal. “Too often, students begin to associate learning only with school. That can't be. They're going to have to keep learning the rest of their lives. Learning takes place wherever you are.

        “In the old days, we pretty much knew what we were preparing kids for. We don't anymore. The best we can do for them is to prepare them to know how to learn and to adapt to change.”

        Some 380 of 725 Purcell Marian students in grades 9-12 traveled for their intersession. Students paid for their own trips.

        Travel is important because the world is shrinking, Ms. Kennedy said.

Nick Horton, 18, and Patrick Hague, 16, helped with a housing rehab in Over-the-Rhine. | ZOOM |

        “Some of our kids have never flown so they're on their first airplane,” she said. “On the other hand, some kids have never tak en the Metro (before).”

        In Over-the-Rhine, 12 students and two teachers helped clean and paint buildings to be rehabbed as housing by the Over-the-Rhine Housing Network. By the end of the first day, students were sore from clearing out old wood and dead birds.

        “It's neat to get outside of suburbia and see what else is here,” said Nick Horton of Pleasant Ridge as he hauled lumber from a dilapidated building. “I've never really been in Over-the-Rhine. You just learn a lot.”

        When students return to school Monday, they'll write about their experiences. They'll be graded on their intersession and receive a quarter elective credit toward graduation. This is the second year of the program at the East Walnut Hills school.

        Students recall far more from these kinds of experiences than from reading a chapter and doing worksheets, said Joe Nathan, director of the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota.

        “There's growing recognition that active, hands-on learning, especially when tied to the development of academic skills, is virtually a good way for all students to learn,” Mr. Nathan said.
       

Firefighters shed tears, say goodbye to a hero
Audit questions $17 million
Urban team: Adjust goal for city core
Cartoon genius left mark here
No one need feel left out: group hug at local school
HOWARD: Neighborhoods
MCNUTT: Hamilton Mercy
Congressman turns to 'Survivor' star
Derby weekend events debated
Eraser granted another hearing
Foster parents sought in Butler County
Hamilton touts space for work
Homeowners join Deerfield in lawsuit against Mason water tower
Human Services director announces retirement
Lawmakers to vote on back-seat belt buckling
Man in hospital lot kidnapped, robbed
Mistaken baby leads to lawsuit
New hotel planned for Ohio state fairgrounds
Revamped Berry Way to be opened
Snow flurries could decorate weekend plans
Students deny funding for May 4 commemoration
Students played with toxin on bus
Taking page from life
Tiger attack victim talks
Woman is ruled unfit for trial
Tristate A.M. Report