Specialized Schools Motivate Kids

Melinda Murphy Offers Study Hall Report

(CBS) 
Aviation High School is brand new - just 100 students - so these kids are pioneers in a way, kind of like Charles Lindbergh, whose grandson happens to be a school director.

"You know, in high school, I was not the best student," Erik Lindbergh says, "Just because I didn't care that much. That's the cool thing that's going on right here, is that we're giving kids the excitement, the ability to learn. And that opens the world for them."

The students Murphy talked to couldn't agree more.

"At my old school, I was just the crazy nerd who loved airplanes, says student Natalie Nason, "And here, you know, I fit in a lot better."

Student Travon Lomax adds, "At this school, we all love the same things. We love aviation and aerospace. So we can all come together as one, put our ideas and thoughts together."

And student Keiko Hiranaka points out, "It's really fun here. So even though I'm missing the regular high school experience, I wouldn't trade it."

Why do we need specialized high schools?

"Well about, a third of American kids drop out," says Tom Vander Ark. He is with the Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation, which helps support theme high schools.

"Kids are bored," Ark says, "And if we want them to do serious intellectual work, we have to create environments that are relevant and engaging and supportive."

The concept is not new. The school immortalized in the movie "Fame" - the LaGuardia High School Of Music And Art And The Performing Arts in New York City - dates back to 1948.