Programs > Classroom Plus > Ellen's Story

My Years with Classroom Plus
-Ellen Clifford, Irondale High School (New Brighton, MN)

We all need someone who inspires us to do better than we know how. No book, no DVD, no curriculum had a greater impact on my students than Classroom Plus. Classroom Plus provided my students with expertise that took learning in my classroom to a new level. When I did evaluations at the end of each semester, 90% of my students said that the single greatest impact on their learning was our weekly speakers.

Classroom Plus provided approximately 36 speakers each year to my classroom alone. I taught Career Experience and all of my students were at risk of dropping out of high school. My program was designed to keep them in school. I had prisoners, musicians, doctors, and carpenters all come to my classroom. Some talked about their schools, some about their careers, some about renting and some about their lives. Classroom Plus made an impact.

To the students, teachers are like parents; sometimes they just hear BLAH, BLAH, and BLAH. But when another voice, talking from their own experience, relates to students, it has a much greater impact than their every day teacher.

One of my students after hearing a financial planner speak to our class came in about a week later and excitedly told me that he had switched his money from a low interest savings account into a 6 month CD. Classroom Plus made an impact.

One of my students became a carpenter apprentice because of a guest speaker. Classroom Plus made an impact. Another of my students started taking French after listening to a chef. He knew he wanted to be a chef but after listening to our guest speaker my student not only wanted to be a chef but he wanted to study in Paris. Classroom Plus made an impact.

As William Ward said, “The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, the great teacher inspires.” Classroom Plus inspired my students to do better than they knew how. It inspired my students to be learners in a way I never could.

I know it is sometimes difficult to get speakers to talk to high school students. It is a difficult audience. Yet, many of my guest speakers said they learned so much from my students and thought they benefited more than the students. It takes a lot of resources to run a program like Classroom Plus. I worked with Classroom Plus staff and they were outstanding in getting speakers into my classroom. I know it may take countless hours to schedule just one speaker. I also know that nothing made a greater impact on my classroom than Classroom Plus. Education costs money, but so does ignorance. Classroom Plus invests in human capital.