Exit interviews can be awkward. For an employee, they’re often a reluctant release; for an employer, a reluctant revelation.
There was none of that at Mountain View School on Thursday, however, as 63 soon-to-graduate sixth-graders sat down for exit interviews with 20 adults. I was privileged to be one of the interviewers and, speaking for my colleagues in the school’s multipurpose room, it was a very rewarding experience.
Our august group included parents, former teachers, business owners, a Goleta city councilman and even the schools superintendent. While we squirmed to get comfortable in chairs made for people half our size, the students strode in, dressed in their best business casual attire and exuding confidence, proudly carrying their resumés and portfolios under their arms.
There were three kids on my panel: Ethan Brier, Ryan O’Gorman and Kayla Simons. Two were lifers at the school at 5465 Queen Ann Lane, having called the campus home since kindergarten; the other had arrived in fifth grade. All three are headed to Goleta Valley Junior High in the fall.
This is the fourth year that Mountain View has conducted the interviews, which are a staple at other South Coast schools, too. The idea is to provide students with an opportunity to learn and exhibit life-skills lessons in a familiar environment; afford them a chance to share their best work and reflect on their student careers and accomplishments; and to give the community a glimpse of just what goes on inside Mountain View’s cool array of low-slung hexagon pods.
It turns out, there’s quite a lot. And just as much learning is going on outside the classrooms’ six walls as in.
With direct eye contact and not a hint of nervousness, my three students described their likes and dislikes with reading, writing and arithmetic. They talked about what they learned during their week at CIMI, the Catalina Island Marine Institute; outlined the role the Danish resistance played in helping Holocaust survivors flee to freedom; and explained how Alka-Seltzer reacts differently in cold water than in hot.
We weighed the benefits of working individually and in groups, project management and homework habits. I was impressed at how these children could quickly switch topics and that they could be so wonderfully concise.
Ethan, Ryan and Kayla have engaging personalities and pretty refined observation skills. Ethan told me about preparing for his Bar Mitzvah next year and how he was being helped by public speaking techniques he had learned in class. Ryan recited part of a hilarious poem he had written about his mom and a seemingly never-ending conversation she has with a close friend. During a general discussion on study environments, Kayla acknowledged her room at home was often messy, but quickly quipped that “it bothers my mom more than it bothers me.”
A recurring theme was the gratitude these kids had for their teachers and their campus community. They may be young but they recognize a good deal when they see one, and Mountain View School has given them a very good education.
Principal Bob Wood has certainly played a big role in shaping that education and instilling a standard of excellence that makes Mountain View perennially one of the South Coast’s top schools. Wood is retiring next month after nine years as principal, 30 years on campus and 37 years in the Goleta Union School District. He will be missed but his legacy is sure to be carried on by his successor, Ned Schoenwetter, the district’s technology director and previously a teacher at Foothill School.
After the interviews, while I was doing my best to impersonate a reporter, sixth-grade teachers Amanda Graybill, the day’s organizer, and Kim Evans and Fara Matthews — all three new to the school this year — excitedly talked about the program.
“It’s nice to see the community come in and see our students in a setting like this, and for us to see them discussing with adults what they’ve learned,” said Graybill, who expressed her admiration for how the kids have progressed and matured since September.
Evans noted that the interviewing skills will be needed sooner than her students may realize.
“To even be considered for the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy, there’s an intense interview involved,” she pointed out. “And that’s less than two years away.”
Matthews, who has been substituting for Sora Young, who has been on leave since February, said the exercise was an important opportunity for reflection at a key crossroads for the kids. All three women enthusiastically agreed.
“It’s a nice closure for the year, for students and teachers,” Graybill said.
To the Mountain View Cougars’ Class of 2009, congratulations on this tremendous milestone in your lives. We look forward to following you through junior high and beyond.
— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen can be reached at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.
