Students in EDYS 102 have recently been making site visits to a school in Janesville, Wisconsin called TAGOS.  Trips to TAGOS began after Dr. Sonja Darlington supervised a Ripon prospective teacher last year.  Following several supervisory visits by Darlington, Nic Manogue, a Co-Dean of Students invited her to also bring some of her classes.  As a result, several EDYS classes have made the trek to Janesville, and her students have been able to see for themselves what a project based curriculum can do for at-risk students.  In this setting, students are mentored individually and in advisory groups, in order to successfully complete their high school education. 

Opinions vary in tersms of how well Beloit College EDYS students believe this school is accomplishing its goals, but it is obvious that TAGOS is offering an alternative approach to education that is getting people's attention.

Comments from Beloit College Students:

"TAGOS was an interesting concept, because students were responsible for their own projects, which the students selected."

"I'd never seen anything like TAGOS before.  The self-directed aspect seemed very important to students who don't necessarily direct themselves outside of the TAGOS setting."

"The school had a very office-like feeling. I thought the project based curriculum...really worked for some of the stduents, and the fact that Janesville has a school like TAGOS available to struggling students, I find impressive."

"...it is an office in the way that it produces efficient, passionate, and focused learners to fit the 'real world'"

"TAGOS is a school taht seems to create a close community where everyone's desires and passions are supported by their peers and teachers."

As Darlington notes, TAGOS is one of the charter schools in Wisconsin that has drawn educators even from outside the state to see what is working.  Her soon-to-be-student teachers will be making a visit to TAGOS in late March, in order to figure out if this might make a good student teaching site for someone from Beloit College.  If you are interested in learning more about TAGOS go to: www.tagosleadershipacademy.org.