Salvador Zendejas was looking around a room filled with cutting-edge technology for learning, teaching and discovery. He looked like a kid in a candy store.
“Oh, yes, exactly like that,” he said, smiling. “A kid in a candy store with severe diabetes.”
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The room is the new Innovation Center at the Pensacola State College Charter Academy. The school opened last August on Pensacola State’s Warrington campus with 49 high-school juniors and seniors. Those students are working to earn their high-school diploma and associate’s degrees at the same time. The number of students will grow in the next few years.
“We have openings for 75 juniors (and) 75 seniors,” said Dr. Karen McCabe, the principal of the Charter Academy. “That’s this year and next year. Then the third year we’ll open to sophomores, and we’ll take 75 sophomores as well. So 225 will be the limit that we have as far as student population.”
The students in that first group of juniors and seniors are now having a high school experience that they say is very different from their old schools.
“(In those schools) it’s really just ‘Hey get your grade up so that way we look good,’ and you’re not given the chance to actually explore what you want to explore,” said Zendejas. “So, coming here instantly the main difference is you actually feel connected to people and the staff actually wants to help you. Rather than other places where guidance is really just there to fill their job by making schedules.”
There is now a lot more technology to explore with the opening of the Innovation Center. The new facility, which was funded by a $100,000 donation from Florida Power and Light, offers students the chance for hands-on experience with virtual reality, 3D imaging and printing, graphic and architectural design and many other areas of STEM and innovative technology.
“We had to elicit advice (and) opinions from all sorts of people, including students, about what type of technologies are really innovative," said Dr. Brenda Kelly, associate vice president for academic affairs at Pensacola State College. She was one of the main advocates for the charter school and helped guide all the various players through the application process from start to finish. The dedication ceremony of the Innovation Center was the first time many students got a chance to see the new technology at their disposal.
“Using the technology, for this age group, it’s just intuitive,” said Kelly. “We’ve got these big touch screens, they’re like huge iPads, and I’m nervous about (trying) them. (I’m like) ‘Oh, I don’t want to touch anything, I might break it.' They’re getting up there and learning how to (work them). I just left a student who is doing some artwork on there. So I think they are excited. It’s beautiful to watch these students grow and the community they have built among themselves. And I think this space is just going to foster more of that.”
Dr. Ed Meadows, President of Pensacola State College said he feels the charter school will grow in popularity and significance as word of mouth from this year’s class spreads.
“Oftentimes you do things from the top down, but with the charter academy I think it’s from the bottom up. The (school’s) reputation is going to probably continue as it has this year. And that speaks louder than words.”
The Pensacola State Charter Academy is open to all juniors and seniors with an unweighted grade point average of 3.0 and higher and have appropriate college entrance scores. There are no tuition fees or textbook charges for students.
