Elevating student voice and deepening connections between students and learning has been a long-term project in Boone County, a growing suburb in Northern Kentucky.
The district was the first in the state to have a student elected to be part of the school board and also started a formal student advisory council that worked with the superintendent. Indeed, many of the district’s priorities have flowed from efforts to expand student empowerment: partnerships with local colleges to build skills and earn credit, a pioneering Maker’s Space to support creativity, and efforts to measure student interests and strengths to provide tailored guidance on postsecondary directions. An emphasis on social-emotional skills increases students’ awareness of personal management, building relationships, decision making, and more.
The district’s most obvious example of prioritizing student agency is the Ignite Institute — a school where active learning experiences, future-focused work, and partnerships with postsecondary education and local businesses come together to open pathways beyond high school.
In 2016, Toyota donated its quality and production engineering lab in Erlanger to create the school. The automaker had previously announced plans to move its North American headquarters out of the area. The 20,000-student Boone district pounced on the project, won a $6.8 million state Work Ready Skills grant to develop the new school, and worked in partnership with other local districts that also send students to Ignite. The school launched in 2019.
By 2023, the high school enrolled about 1,100 students with more than 400 on a waiting list. Of the 289 graduates, 130 finished 12th grade with enough credit hours to be considered college juniors. Among that group, 79 had earned associate’s degrees at the same time as their high school diploma. Another 38 students had enough credits to enter college as sophomores.
Ignite Principal Jerry Gels said that a more engaging atmosphere for students and outcomes that provide advantages like college credits or professional certifications are the kind of real-world outcomes that schools should strive to deliver.
“Student agency is great and makes things like internships and skills really matter,” he said. “It also levels the playing field for working class families that are terrified about what they can afford and the kind of debt that might come with college.” Gels said that families need schools to help students make meaningful connections with options that await after high school.
For Jack Gatlin, an Ignite Institute student who just completed his junior year at Ryle High (Ignite students also maintain ties to their home high school and participate in those schools’ sports programs), Ignite provides a strong combination of support and connection plus exposure to career options and challenging projects.
Ignite groups students into five fields of study: biomedical science and health; computer science; design; education, and engineering — all connected to high-demand careers. Gatlin said that being part of a smaller group of students within the school helped him to excel academically.
The project-based learning experiences, including an individual student-designed year-long project, make learning more interesting, he added. (Freshman year, Gatlin designed and refined a ventilated shoulder pad stand that could help football players stay cooler.)
“That pushed me more into engineering,” he said. The project focus also caused him to practice teamwork and conversations with adults and peers. “I was more of an introvert before. I can collaborate in a better way now. Reaching out to companies and showing what I’m doing has helped me open up. I’m much better at talking to people.”
Darin Smith, a social studies teacher at Ignite, said the collaborative culture and engaging learning emphasis produce lasting results beyond academic knowledge.
“Working with people, doing research along the way, and solving problems provides a more realistic real-world experience,” said Smith. In his social studies courses, such learning might mean designing a forum for local candidates to help understand political concepts and current issues. His classes have created social media accounts for long departed Enlightenment era scholars to learn about philosophical and political thought in history.
Boone County’s districtwide efforts to align programs with groups like the Northern Kentucky Workforce Investment Board and stay in close communication with partners like Gateway Community and Technical College, Thomas More College, Northern Kentucky University, and others are essential to meeting needs and expectations beyond high school — a critical element in delivering a student emphasis.
Last year, the district adopted a new five-year strategic plan that included its first Portrait of a Graduate. The portrait prioritizes the attributes of delivering skills in communication, global citizenship, collaboration, integrity, and developing a learner’s mindset. Developing that vision involved more than 200 educators, community members, parents, and students. The process examined key academic and non-cognitive skills necessary to become “empowered citizens.”
Educators see the imperative of the district and school leaders remaining aware of how to position students for success.
“When I got out of high school, I was a terrible student — I could do tests, but I had no cares. Something like this would have helped me to find a pathway much sooner,” said Smith, the Ignite teacher. “Keeping up with our kids who’ve graduated, I know they feel way head of their classmates. They recognize that when they get out.”
