New High School to Use Revolutionary Concept to Make It Unique

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New High School to Use Revolutionary Concept to Make It Unique

by Brian Liberatore • bliberatore@news-press.com • December 18, 2008
Article obtained from News-Press.com

Oasis Charter High School Principal Chris Terrill plans to connect the lines between education, vocational training and entrepreneurialism.

He will have a new $7.8 million building to exercise unique educational concepts.
But will it work?

There is no precedent, only Terrill’s vision, a supportive board of directors and dozens of students anxious to make it reality.

“We wanted something rigorous, something relevant and something practical,” said Terrill, speaking from a cramped office at Oasis Middle School in the southwest Cape. “I think this is where things will end up going. We have to get past the idea that a school needs to be huge to be a real high school.”

Crews from the McGarvey Development in Fort Myers this week began work on the 50,000-square-foot Oasis Charter High School building. Working under a blistering schedule, the company is under contract to open a state-of-the-art, fully equipped high school by late summer 2009. The City Council Monday approved the contract with the company.

When finished, the building will have room for 700 students, a top-shelf assortment of video and graphic technology and a kitchen worthy of a primetime cooking show.

The facility will allow Terrill to launch a culinary program for students, who want to learn food preparation as a business. The school is working with the chef from Tarpon Lodge, an upscale Pine Island restaurant, to launch the program.

The kitchen, equipped with cameras and other stage paraphernalia, will tie the culinary program to the high school’s video production and graphic design courses.

“We’re teaching practical business applications through these programs,” Terrill said.

In perhaps his most ambitious plan, Terrill is looking to merge high school education with the rigors of the business world. With help from private backers, students at the high school will launch and run their own businesses.

George Patton with Sunbelt Realty has already agreed to furnish a $2,000 loan to the students next year in the program’s first year. Profits from the companies will fund a scholarship.

Sophomore Chris Gonzalez and Jeff Mann, both 15, can’t wait to start

“I think it’s a perfect idea,” Mann said. “No other high school does this.”

Mann wants to take his penchant for graphic design and turn it into a business. Next year he will have the facility, supervision and funding to make that a reality.

Gonzalez, who sees his future in aerospace engineering, wants someday to start his own business.

Despite the unorthodox approach, Oasis High School will still offer the basic tenets of a traditional education, Terrill said.

The school is the only in the region offering a rigorous education program endorsed by the University of Cambridge. The Cambridge-certified approach guarantees students a scholarship to the state’s universities.

by Brian Liberatore • bliberatore@news-press.com • December 18, 2008
Article obtained from News-Press.com

Oasis Charter High School Principal Chris Terrill plans to connect the lines between education, vocational training and entrepreneurialism.

He will have a new $7.8 million building to exercise unique educational concepts.
But will it work?

There is no precedent, only Terrill’s vision, a supportive board of directors and dozens of students anxious to make it reality.

“We wanted something rigorous, something relevant and something practical,” said Terrill, speaking from a cramped office at Oasis Middle School in the southwest Cape. “I think this is where things will end up going. We have to get past the idea that a school needs to be huge to be a real high school.”

Crews from the McGarvey Development in Fort Myers this week began work on the 50,000-square-foot Oasis Charter High School building. Working under a blistering schedule, the company is under contract to open a state-of-the-art, fully equipped high school by late summer 2009. The City Council Monday approved the contract with the company.

When finished, the building will have room for 700 students, a top-shelf assortment of video and graphic technology and a kitchen worthy of a primetime cooking show.

The facility will allow Terrill to launch a culinary program for students, who want to learn food preparation as a business. The school is working with the chef from Tarpon Lodge, an upscale Pine Island restaurant, to launch the program.

The kitchen, equipped with cameras and other stage paraphernalia, will tie the culinary program to the high school’s video production and graphic design courses.

“We’re teaching practical business applications through these programs,” Terrill said.

In perhaps his most ambitious plan, Terrill is looking to merge high school education with the rigors of the business world. With help from private backers, students at the high school will launch and run their own businesses.

George Patton with Sunbelt Realty has already agreed to furnish a $2,000 loan to the students next year in the program’s first year. Profits from the companies will fund a scholarship.

Sophomore Chris Gonzalez and Jeff Mann, both 15, can’t wait to start

“I think it’s a perfect idea,” Mann said. “No other high school does this.”

Mann wants to take his penchant for graphic design and turn it into a business. Next year he will have the facility, supervision and funding to make that a reality.

Gonzalez, who sees his future in aerospace engineering, wants someday to start his own business.

Despite the unorthodox approach, Oasis High School will still offer the basic tenets of a traditional education, Terrill said.

The school is the only in the region offering a rigorous education program endorsed by the University of Cambridge. The Cambridge-certified approach guarantees students a scholarship to the state’s universities.