'Thinking On Your Toes': Students Solve Problems With New Teaching Method
BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- A unique class at a Boulder County charter school is starting to yield significant results. Peak To Peak Charter School students are learning with a new teaching method.
"It often looks like chaos and it's very, very frightening for me a lot of the time," Kristie Letter said about her innovation and design class.
"It's always thinking on your toes and really having to think outside of the box and come up with a bunch of ideas and collaborate with your team members," said Jack Begley, a sophomore.
The idea behind the class is to let the kids work in teams to solve problems. The problems are different for every class. The results this school-year have been astonishing.
"This is the first year we've actually won big national and international awards," said sophomore Mana Setayesh. "I don't think any of us thought we'd get to where we are right now."
The class has racked up awards and cash prizes for big issues, including protecting endangered species and honey bees, and the strongest showing of any school in the world at the Conrad Challenge.
"We made flavored toothpicks gum and incense that use abundant Indian spices that have been proven to help with nicotine and tobacco addiction. They're flying us out to India to actually try and institute it," said Setayesh.
Letter thinks the kids learned to thrive by failing at their first assignment of the year.
"These amazing students can problem solve and make it a better world for all of us. What they see in the world as it is right now and what they want it to be and how they're going to get there," Letter said.