If you could design your own school and study whatever you wanted, what would you choose to learn?

This isn’t an unlikely question for students at Monument Mountain Regional High School, who are taking part in an activity called the Independent Project. The program is a special school within the Massachusetts public high school that’s completely run by students - no teachers, parents, or adults are allowed - and they’re in charge of deciding their whole curriculum (课程).

These teens’ homework and what they study in the classroom are all totally up to them. Charles Tsai, a journalist, made a 15-minute film about the project that shows the wide variety of activities different students join.

Students aren’t taking this lightly - instead of reacting irresponsibly (不负责任地) to the freedom to design their own studies, they’re dealing with their own interests by writing poetry (诗歌) collections, learning instruments and taking flight lessons.

The program is this: On Mondays students come up with questions in relation to one of their school subjects, then they spend the rest of the week researching and coming up with possible conclusions to these questions. On Fridays, they present this information to their classmates.

“I think the more choices we have in our school, the more students we will help develop into the kind of citizens that we need,”Principal (校长) Marianne Young explains in the film.

In the video, teens express their satisfaction with the program because it holds different kinds of learners, even those who don’t always succeed in a traditional study situation.

“I have difficulty in reading and writing. School has always been a big problem for me,” one student named Sergio explains in the video. “If it were not for this program, I don’t know if I’d be graduating - I don’t know where I’d be right now. I think this has really been my savior (救星) and got me through the last two years of high school.”

As often as possible, high school students should face challenges. 【小题1】 Giving a speech in class forces students out of their comfort zone (区), especially if they must take a stand on a social issue. The following tips for giving a speech in class can benefit high school students.

【小题2】 Before practicing public speaking skills, high school students should consider the audience. Students should ask a few questions: Am I speaking to teenagers, adults, or both? How big is the audience? What is the context of my speech?

Stick to the topic. Young speakers will not have time to cover every part of the topic. 【小题3】 They can write a clear thesis statement(主旨句) that serves as a road map for the whole speech. Then, the speakers should identify two or three central points they can explain.

Ask for feedback (反馈). High school students should rehearse (排练) the speech before an audience of one or two people. 【小题4】 In this way, they get a feel for the size of the room. The listeners should sit at the back of the room to know whether they can hear the speaker clearly. 【小题5】 Eye contact holds the audience responsible for listening and gives a speaker the chance to check if the audience is tracking the central points properly.

Hello, children and parents.

Thank you all for coming to the meeting. I’d like to start by confirming (保证) that we will receive some money from the government for our school trip to Indonesia. We will receive about $1,300 per child, which will reduce the whole cost to you.

Now that we are sure to get the money, it is time to do some serious planning. We are sure that the trip will be very exciting for the children, especially if they have not traveled abroad before. There are many advantages(优点) of having some experiences to different places and cultures. Your children will be able to learn a lot about other people and cultures on this trip.

Leanne is with us tonight. Leanne, where are you? Put up your hand so that the people can see who you are. Thank you. Leanne went on a trip there with some other students last year and will be happy to tell you of her experiences and answer any questions you might have. We will hear from her a bit later in the meeting.

We only have five months to organize the trip. From past experience I can tell you that this time will go very quickly. So we need to start organizing the trip.

This is the agenda (议程) for this evening’s meeting:

Passports: when and how to apply for one.

Health matters: what precautions (预防措施) you need to take, plus any special needs that your child may have.

Studying: what kind of the school and type of lessons your child will attend.

Money: paying for the trip, plus how much money your child should take.

Hotel: where we will be staying clothing and personal items that your children should take with them.