Story by Ben Ward
Discovery High School helps students prepare for adulthood and citizenship through a strong focus on learning, leadership, and community involvement. With programs that teach both academic skills and life lessons, the school ensures students are ready to succeed in the real world and contribute to their communities.
Discovery’s guidance counselor, Ms. Arditti often sends out articles with tips about dealing with stress and other common mental health issues and community service opportunities. She also has lunch and learns for parents and students to present various topics about colleges. Senior Bryson Smith said that these lunch and learns help him out a lot. “Mrs. Arditti’s Lunch and Learns have done a great job of helping me develop life skills,” explained Smith.
Ms. Arditti highlighted how there are leadership opportunities at Discovery. “Students at DHS are allowed a voice,” she said. “They are encouraged to give their input and to be the leaders in their clubs and Student Senate.” These leadership opportunities give students a chance to work with groups to create events and fundraisers. For example, Beta Club leaders have created school-wide fundraisers such as carnations for Valentine’s Day and hot chocolate on cold mornings. These fundraisers were created and run by student-led Beta Club groups.
DHS math teacher Ms. Greenwald creates documents for advisory that help guide students in college and career choices. Greenwald stated that “students learn [in advisory] about communication, organization, goal-setting, time management, etc.” These are skills that can be used in any college major and any career field. Senior Taryn Wilson also noted, “The classes that have allowed me to develop important life skills are Senior Seminar because it forces you to become your own teacher, researcher, and time manager very quickly.”
Greenwald feels that it is equally as important to help students become lifelong learners. She hopes that she is helping students realize the value of education and knowledge. Senior Peyton Surridge expanded this idea by stating, “Many of the classes at DHS are self-paced and require students to develop a personal drive to do well.” Surridge also said, “Much of this is why I think graduates at Discovery are extremely well prepared for life after graduation.”
Discovery High School does many things to prepare their students for what comes next in life, whether it be self-paced classes or leadership opportunities in different groups. Discovery does more than just get you down the aisle at graduation. Discovery teaches you lifelong lessons that will help you years from now.