Gems from "Accepted"

Have you seen the movie "Accepted"?
I was flipping through HBO channels one day. Have you seen this movie? The one I normally would not watch, but started to intrigue me.

The story where a so-so student did not get into any college?
The story where said student made up a college acceptance, received money from his parents, and bought an old building?
The story where others heard about it and sent their money to enroll?

They decided to try something new and create their own school because these students did not fit into the college mold.

How did they decide what to teach? They asked the students and put it on a large whiteboard to see the patterns and decide the curriculum.

Who were the teachers?

They were students led by facilitators who took a lead.

Eventually, they were brought before the Board of Education to state their case to become an accredited school. They were not given accreditation but were given a year to prove their new university style.

Some of the quotes jotted down from the movie that were used to state why their model of education was not a bad idea:

"You rob kids of their creativity and passion."

They asked the Board: "Did you follow your heart or just played it safe. Did you take the easy road?"

They pushed for the right to have an education. A student "just needs the desire to better himself/herself."

The main character said that if they shut the institute down that "we will never stop learning, we will never stop growing, and we will never forget the ideals instilled in us."

And, most importantly, "Life is amazing and full of possibilities."

I wonder if many of my students say that and if a push in educational reform can make it so?

Techorati tags: Accepted, education, educational reform