This past class we had the privilege of speaking with Jeff Hopkins, the founder and principal at Pacific School of Inquiry and Innovation. It was really interesting to listen to him share about his background and experience creating the school. I was not very familiar with this type of school, but after his discussion with our class, I was blown away. One of the things that resonated with me was when he spoke about making the students aware that they are members of society at whatever age they are. In my experience as a student it felt as though we had to wait until we graduated before we were allowed to interact within society or explore our role as citizens. Jeff told us about several of the Inquiry projects that are being run by his students, such as the online art collective, web forums, store fronts, etc. It was incredible to hear about the passions of these students, and the support they receive from this school and its teachers. 

My teachable subject area is Physical Health and Education (PHE) , and I spoke with Jeff about how PSII meets the curriculum and provides their students with opportunities for PHE. Although this school seems to have a strong focus on Inquiry relating to the other subject areas (math, science, social studies, art, etc.),  they have a very interesting approach to PHE. He explained that rather than having the students in a typical PHE class, they each create their own PHE plans that are geared towards their personal interests and goals they’ve set for themselves. He said that this personal program that students create places a lot of responsibility on the students to learn different ways to be active and what their preferred type of physical activities are, which is very important for ensuring participation in physical activity later in life. A lot of people struggle to be active once they enter the working world for multiple reasons, including not knowing what or how to be active in a way that makes sense and feels fulfilling for them.