ACCESS Lab - Satsuma High School

On November 17, Keller, Joye, and I visited Satsuma High School in Satsuma, AL. When we arrived, we were first greeted by the large statue of their alligator mascot and then by Ms. Jennifer Phillips. Ms. Phillips serves as a facilitator for Satsuma High's ACCESS lab. Ms. Phillips was more than happy to give us a tour of the lab as well as tell us all about the work she and her students do everyday.

Ms. Phillips informed us that she currently had 18 students total enrolled in online courses. These students were taking a number of courses including Creative Writing, Latin, German, English 12 and Environmental Science. There was even a student who was enrolled in three courses at the same time. At the time of our observation, the courses that the students were taken were strictly online. The distance learning teacher posted assignments for the students to complete. Students are also responsible for completing modules and posting them in the online dropbox. Tests and quizzes are given and students are allotted 1 1/2 hours to complete them. Tests and quizzes must be completed at school, but some assignments can be done at home.

Ms. Phillips also told us about the changes Satsuma High would see in regards to the ACCESS program. Starting next fall, advanced courses will be offered and all freshman students will be required to take at least one ACCESS course before graduation. She also gave us insight on student accomplishments. Ms. Phillips felt that the majority of her students were doing well so far. She pointed out that students put in the same amount of effort into the ACCESS courses as they did their regular courses. If a student does not complete all of the necessary modules and and assignments, the student may be expelled from the program.

One topic that we were very curious about was the hiring of teachers and facilitators. We learned that there are no prerequisites for being a facilitator. Most facilitators are librarians and teacher aides. Teachers who are interested in teaching an ACCESS course are hired by ACCESS and earn $300 per student. Both facilitators and teachers receive training upon hiring in order to become familiarized with the equipment used. Teachers are allowed to fix grades in the ACCESS system as needed. As a facilitator, Ms. Phillips is responsible for ensuring that the grades given through ACCESS are uploaded to Satsuma High's STI system.

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Satsuma High's ACCESS lab. Ms. Phillips was a wonderful tour guide and gave us some much needed knowledge on how the lab and online courses really work. It was also fun to see the high school students working on their assignments for various classes. They seemed to enjoy working independently and learning new topics such as Latin and German. I hope to see more high schools incorporate this technology into their curriculum.