By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor

Michaele Williams (left) and Kristen Johnson, both 18, try on their mortarboards during practice Tuesday for their graduation ceremony. Shroder Paideia Academy's first class of graduating seniors will receive diplomas Friday at the Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University. The Cincinnati Enquirer/GARY LANDERS

KENNEDY HEIGHTS - There's a lot more to graduation than handing out diplomas.

Ask the students and staff at Shroder Paideia Academy on Lumford Place. The Cincinnati Public school will graduate its first senior class this week.

"We're like the guinea pigs ... trying to make everything flow smoothly," said 18-year-old Curtis Robinson, third in his class of 76 and a member of the National Honor Society.

Robinson, of Kennedy Heights, and the other graduating seniors will make school history when they receive their diplomas at 8 p.m. Friday at the Cintas Center on Xavier University's campus.

Shroder Paideia Academy evolved from a neighborhood school and was the first school in the Cincinnati district to implement a Paideia learning program.

Shroder became a high school in 2000, following district reorganization in the mid-1990s that phased out some middle schools and turned others into high schools.

Paideia (pi-DAY-uh) - a Greek word meaning the upbringing of a child - stresses student-centered learning through three modes of teaching: didactic (using traditional instruction techniques), coaching and seminar.

"One of the real strengths of our program is that, in seminar, students are learning how to think, argue points, disagree with others politely and change one another's minds," said Debbie Liberi, a science teacher and the school's Paideia facilitator.

Irene Jones of Mount Washington, valedictorian and honor society member, said that addressing her fellow graduates "will be an honor." Jones, 18, plans to tell classmates to remember what they learned and "you will make a difference in the world like you did at Shroder."

Earlier this week, Liberi and senior class adviser Charissa Hunt, a math and pre-calculus teacher, were among school staff helping students rehearse for Friday's graduation.

"Overwhelming" - that's how Hunt described the work that has led up to this week. "But I'm looking forward to the end result," she said.

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