Learning from experience

The smell of onions is overpowering in Connie Tse's third-grade classroom at Ocean Shore School in Pacifica. But no one is crying. Instead, the students in Room 12 are busy "hypothesizing."

"The hypothesis is this," says Tse, a member of the Laguna Salada Education Association (LSEA). "If you can't see and you can't smell, you can't tell the difference between an onion and an apple. If you agree with this, put a card on the 'yes' side. If you don't, put your card on the 'no' side."

Soon there are 15 yeses and five noes on the board.

Students then outline a procedure to test their hypothesis, finally agreeing on blindfolds and nose plugs. "Ladies and gentlemen, your nose plug will be this," says Tse, showing them how to pinch their noses with their thumb and index fingers.

The next step is to conduct the experiment and record the results.

Students take turns donning blindfolds and tasting small chunks of apple or onion as they hold their noses.

Janine Dana wrinkles her nose in distaste as she bites into her sample. "I was right; it's an onion." She refuses to believe otherwise until she removes her blindfold. It's an apple.

Ensuring that learning is fun is an integral part of Ocean Shore School's philosophy and curriculum. Although the K-8 magnet school, located on San Mateo County's coastline, no longer includes alternative in its name, it's still described as an "alternative school" in its brochure.

Teachers find it ironic that what used to be standard curriculum in public schools - hands-on learning, thematic instruction, music, art, poetry and monthly field trips - is now considered to be "alternative." Doing away with enrichment programs is an alternative they won't even consider.

"We do teach to the standards, but not in the usual way," says Tse. "We don't just use textbooks. I try to choose literature pieces that are grade appropriate and interesting for them, so they can connect with the curriculum. There is so much more to life than a textbook."

Tse is planning a field trip to the Woodside Store, a historic landmark in a neighboring rural community, where her students will be able to wash clothes on a washboard, saw logs and make shingles. "It will be like going back in time," she says. "Instead of just explaining how people lived in olden times, we'll live it."

When students experience learning rather than just reading about it, it becomes more relevant to their lives, says Jan Keaney, an LSEA member with a combination seventh- and eighth-grade class. She took her students to the Maritime Museum in San Francisco, where they spent the night on a ship. Recently all of the school's eighth-graders spent a week in Yosemite studying geology and environmental science at the park's institute for education and went hiking on the John Muir trail after studying about the early environmentalist it's named for. Students took a walking tour of San Francisco's Chinatown when they were studying immigration.

"It's tricky," says Keaney, whose children attended the school and are now grown. "It takes a lot of time to fit these things into the curriculum and not shortchange the students on the things they will be tested on."

But because parents believe in what the teachers are trying to do, it's easier to pull it off.

Parents in the middle-class community of Pacifica are eager to enroll their children in the school, which has a long waiting list, even though parent participation is mandatory. The commitment - 95 hours per year per family for one child and 145 hours for two or more children - can include helping in the classroom, conducting special projects during or outside of school hours, assisting in the library, undertaking administrative jobs, grading papers, providing computer support and offering child care for other parents.

One mother brings her pottery kiln to school to help students with an art lesson. A working poet shares his work in English lessons. Another parent has helped students start a newsletter.

"Parents do this because they want enrichment for their children," says Janet Williams. "They feel that hands-on learning is important."

With so many parents willing to drive their own cars - and provide gas and toll money - for field trips, "we can go any time we want and don't worry about paying for buses," she adds.

"It's wonderful, because it allows us mostly hands-on learning, which is much more exciting for the kids than the 'drill and kill' approach," says Williams. "I love my job. This is a fun place to be. And I think the students are motivated to learn."

In Room 11, after her fourth- and fifth-graders finish "buddy reading" with visiting special ed students, Williams brings out her guitar and the students break into song for 20 minutes. They're currently writing and preparing to perform their own musical.

As for stressing over standardized tests, teachers, for the most part, don't. And neither do parents. The strategy appears to be paying off: The school was ranked 9 out of 10 on the API in 2002. Teachers say that the interesting curriculum - along with the high level of parent involvement - keeps children focused in the classroom.

"Teachers value students for who they are," says Cheryl Smith, a parent volunteer. "They don't stifle their opinions."

With so many parents helping out, students are able to get individual attention as well as exposure to many different ways of life. "They are very comfortable with other adults."

But what makes her happiest is, "My children are able to receive a well-rounded education."