When I first started teaching, I created a summer program to combine academics, job skills, and model building. The inadequate funding was through the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) initially, then through the Workforce Investment Act in the later years. This funding was supplemented by donors, both in the hobby industry and in a wide variety of local businesses, without whom we could never have given these students the supplies and support to suceed. In eight summers, 120+ at-risk high school kids worked in teams of 2-4 to design and build 38 R/C airplanes, 37 of which flew successfully. These students improved their average math scores three grade levels and their English scores 2.5 grade levels, not bad for a six-week program that didn't have a textbook! Funding dried up about the time I needed a break, so the program was shelved six years ago.

In May of last year, I was approached to resurrect the Model Airplane Designers program. There was no way to organize and mobilize the people and companies involved in the three weeks before the start of summer school, and I declined - but it got me thinking. In addition to being a full-time teacher, I run a small charter school for my district campus, and so I get to see a lot of struggling students' transcripts. In order to graduate, they must successfully complete two semesters of Algebra....

More to follow - dinner's ready!