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Rivers and Revolutions leaders and students highlight experiential curriculum and rising interest
Summary
Teachers and students described the Rivers and Revolutions semester program at Concord-Carlisle High School, emphasizing field-based learning, embedded honors, and steps the program has taken to increase access. Program leaders said roughly 20–25% of each graduating class enrolls; this year's participation was cited at 23%.
Concord-Carlisle High School students and teachers on March 11 presented updates on the Rivers and Revolutions semester program, describing a curriculum built around field-based learning, three core units and efforts to broaden access.
Student speaker Felicity summarized recent and upcoming activities including a Multicultural Food Festival, a scholarship phone-a-thon that raised an estimated $24,000 in one shift for the CC Scholarship Fund, and music and moot-court events. Program leader Ashley Cohen (math teacher) and fellow faculty members — Will Camaza (English), Agatha Wozniak (social studies), and James O’Shea (science) — described the program’s structure: three units (Rivers, Revolutions, and Journeys), a commitment to spend significant time learning outside the building, and an emphasis on inquiry, collaboration and applied projects.
Cohen said Rivers aims to be outside the classroom roughly half the time and highlighted work that grounds students in place-based learning — for example, visiting Walden Pond to read Thoreau — and that builds social-emotional skills. Cohen said the program has embedded honors across its subjects and maintains scheduling flexibility so students can also take Advanced Placement courses; she said this approach has helped increase enrollment.
When asked about participation rates, Cohen said the program has been in the district for 12 years and typically enrolls 20–25% of a graduating class; she said 23% of the current class is participating. Committee members thanked the presenters and asked how the program manages phones and student focus during off-campus activities; Cohen described teacher-created cloth phone caddies and teacher practices for securing devices during outings.
Committee members praised the program’s experiential approach and its reported resurgence under recent leadership. No committee action was taken.
