Poston Create: Where students can choose what and how they study

The second in a series of segments compiled as a collaboration between Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) and Arizona PBS, this segment centers around education.

CFA surveyed Arizonans about what kind of Arizona they would like to see. The survey results unearthed seven shared values amongst Arizonans. CFA then did a deeper dive and looked at ways to take action and make Arizona more fair and equitable for all.

Arizonans like the idea of personalized or individualized education. This is a way for students to lead the charge in what they want to study and how they want to study it, considering that students learn at different levels.

Poston Create at Poston Junior High in Mesa, Arizona, does just that. It’s a program open to 7th and 8th grade students that allows them the freedom to choose the topics they study and how they study.

Poston Create is a three-period block that combines English/ Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. Students give input on the curriculum and a team of teachers takes that input and combines it with state learning standards and makes a lively and engaging course of study.

Teachers say the students are more engaged and thriving. Students say this type of learning helps them retain information, be more creative and more open to their classmates.