Interactive Breakout Session Begins Santa Fe’s School Year

Many schools assign summer reading for their students with an exam on the concepts learned from their readings near the beginning of the new school year. Polk County Catholic high school, Santa Fe Catholic High School, has taken a unique approach to their summer reading program by presenting students with a hands-on, critical thinking, task-based assessment tool based on Breakout.edu’s boxed program. Integrating concepts learned from their summer reading of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, this program uses a breakout approach to make learning more tangible and memorable.The book tells the story of the interactions of a German boy and a French girl in an occupied France during World War II. After completing their reading of the book, students were given the opportunity to contact Jackie Albin, via Skype, who is a Jewish survivor of WWII. Ms. Albin gave insights generally unrealized by reading the pages of a book.The multifocal experience also included its dynamic cornerstone of the breakout program as small teams of students are confined to a room to solve puzzles and a series of tasks finally leading to the “key” of their escape – the physical breakout. Next, teams used communication skills, creativity, and critical thinking as they completed challenging team-building activities.

The interactivity brought together students who may not have seen each other over the summer and formed friendships between new and returning students. Many of the groups successfully worked through all the puzzles and completed the challenge, and everyone gained insight on how to work within a group and depend on others for assistance as they collaborated on particularly tricky tasks.Santa Fe Catholic High School’s innovative educational approach using “breakouts” allowed students to learn in a more intriguing and much more relaxed setting than using a paper and pencil assessment to test comprehension of their summer reading assignment. The stimulating sessions were a strong beginning to the year and gave students and teachers a great sense of camaraderie. The bonds formed in the breakout exercise are indicative of the community and family atmosphere of Santa Fe.Serving students from 9th – 12th grades, Santa Fe is the only Polk County Catholic high school and is open to all high school students regardless of religious affiliation. Their mission is learning and serving their community in God’s image. Learn more about Santa Fe Catholic High School by calling 863-665-4188.