Reflection on Project '79 from an alumnus ...
Project '79 has given me what I need to be a leader in my classes, on my lacrosse team, and in my fraternity. It taught me how to manage my time so I could be where I am now, currently enrolled at University of New Haven. I'm doing everything I want to do, whether it's playing lacrosse, participating in events with my fraternity, maintaining a social life, or getting good grades and making the Dean's List. Project '79 inspired me to carry on the program's values. Without the program I would never even have thought about majoring in History Education to prepare myself to teach kids in high school. None of this would have been possible without Project '79.
—Kyle Saggio ‘11
The comments below are descriptions of Project '79 by current p79 members (source: 2/20/13 survey)
Project '79 has given me what I need to be a leader in my classes, on my lacrosse team, and in my fraternity. It taught me how to manage my time so I could be where I am now, currently enrolled at University of New Haven. I'm doing everything I want to do, whether it's playing lacrosse, participating in events with my fraternity, maintaining a social life, or getting good grades and making the Dean's List. Project '79 inspired me to carry on the program's values. Without the program I would never even have thought about majoring in History Education to prepare myself to teach kids in high school. None of this would have been possible without Project '79.
—Kyle Saggio ‘11
The comments below are descriptions of Project '79 by current p79 members (source: 2/20/13 survey)
Since joining the program I truly feel as if I'm a part of something bigger than myself, working every day with both classmates and teachers who genuinely care for one another.
It is a home for the creative, the interesting, and the unique. The program encourages students to come up with new and innovative ideas for their own education. Project gives us opportunities to change how we do in school. It surrounds us with teachers who know us as people and know how we work, rather than as just another name to a face. In Project we are how the whole high school should be. |
If you don't understand something, the teachers will take as much time as it takes till you understand the problem. Just like in college, if you do not do the assignment, you will get a bad grade. End of story.
Project teaches us to accept one another no matter what. Project teachers take time to individually check on every student so that no one gets left behind or suffocated under work ... Project is my family. They help me learn, pick me up when I'm down, and let me know that I'll always have someone if I need it. The togetherness of Project makes change seem like not such a bad thing and something you can overcome. |
Teachers aren't expecting kids to regurgitate the information they just learned yesterday; they want you to use your imagination to break through the surface of learning.
Project '79 teaches kids to learn their strengths and weaknesses inside and outside of school, and encourages thinking outside the box. Project '79 is a program where the actual learning is the focus, rather than the busy-work teachers might assign otherwise. When you learn in Project '79, it won't necessarily be from the teacher, as a lot of times you learn from what the other students have to say. |
Do you want to just get by, not understanding what the teachers are saying--or just not caring what they say? Your life can become one book report after another, and I'm sure a lot of people just accept that. But if you can't stand learning like that ... Project '79 is a program for people who learn in a different way.
Project teachers push me to reach my full potential, and make me believe that it's a place high above my own expectations. Most importantly, students are taught they can achieve whatever they want, despite what they have been taught, or taught themselves. |