Revere High School has been hosting Vision of a Minuteman meetings to discuss opportunities for graduating students and their futures. 

Earlier in the year, Revere wanted to create a plan for the future of their graduates. Philip King, principal of Revere High School, and other administrators conducted interviews in January to find a company to collaborate with. After the interviews, Revere chose the organization Battelle for Kids, which they helped to guide the meetings and discussions that took place each month since November. With the help of this organization, the Revere district hopes to guide students of all futures properly. 

“[These meetings] give [the students] options and tools. Are they going to college? Are they going off to a career, for example, in the technical field? Are they going to be part of the workforce and are the skills that they learned here going to help them achieve what they want for their futures?” King said. 

The main concept of these meetings is to format education in a way that every student can thrive in the future. When describing this program, the words “strategic plan” were often used. With Revere’s strategic plan, the administrators want to create a view for the future, this includes the Vision of a Minuteman. 

“We want to see what our ‘vision’ is of someone that graduates from Revere High School. We want to look at what the competencies that we want out students to have when they leave the building,” King said. 

The meeting included multiple students from different grade levels to have a say in these plans. Revere High School student Nathan Cronin attended these meetings. After generally volunteering for any leadership positions, King and other staff members chose him to speak during the meetings. He provided an overview of one meeting he attended. 

“[There are] students, faculty members, community heads, and all of them in one room talking about key values of Revere, what we believe, and what we want to show future students,” Cronin said.

With ideas from all different perspectives, this strategic plan would cater to each and every student’s future. In order to make this plan, Revere used Battelle for Kids’ help. They helped to guide discussions for the Revere Districts’ ambitions. Senior Director Stephen Fujii from Battelle for Kids acted as a partner to the Revere staff. Fujii and Battelle for Kids provided their educational services to help Revere’s Vision of a Minuteman. 

“The design team’s discussions focused on how the world is changing and the community’s collective hopes, dreams, and aspirations for all students with regard to these changes,” Fujii said. 

The biggest of these changes being the impact of the Coronavirus. The coronavirus caused the most recent December meeting to be held completely online. When Fujii was asked about the challenges the pandemic places on their organization, he responded that although the pandemic brought new challenges, while also motivating them to strive more for the students struggling in the quarantine now. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us in many ways a new appreciation for why every student needs 21st century skills and competencies—empathy, adaptability, resilience, problem-solving—to help navigate a complex and unpredictable world,” Fujii said. 

With the help of Battelle for kids, the leaders of the Revere district, and the community, Revere students will have the chance to put their own dreams into action with the help of opportunities from the school’s new plan.