Childersburg+High+School

=Childersburg High School= by Jennifer Barnett, Technology Integration Specialist

Allow me to tell you a little about my school, Childersburg High School. We are a 4A school located in Childersburg in Talladega County, Alabama. Serving nearly 500 students, we began the process of transforming CHS into a college and career ready school. We have changed many things about our school - curriculum, instructional delivery, technology, and more. We have also worked very hard to increase the connections to our community and the partnerships with our students.

We host visitors nearly every week and enjoy opening our doors to you. If you are interesting in scheduling a visit, contact me at 256-315-5494. We'd love to have you!

Our CHS Student Ownership Story
Education Teacher Week article - 7 Ways to Increase Student Ownership

This article tells the story of how we have made the transformation that we've made. For an extended interview on this topic, visit the Alabama Best Practices Center site for their post on the changes at CHS.

Here are the statements created by our Student Leadership team during the summer 2012 in preparation for our school transformation:

As an intellectual of CHS, I will demonstrate optimism and maturity along with unconditional unity and pride in my school and community. Through my educational experience, I will exemplify leadership, professionalism, work ethic, and collaboration. As a CHS tiger, I will be a positive impact on my school and community.
 * The Tiger Creed **
 * //Who We Are and What We Believe// **

As a CHS student, I will lead, motivate, and hold others accountable in a collaborative, optimistic work environment. This will prepare me for success professionally and personally as a scholar and a citizen.
 * Tiger Testimony (T ** 2 ** ) **
 * //What We Expect from Ourselves// **

Download the Childersburg High School informational flyer and learn about our programs, initiatives, and school transformation.



Unique Programs at Childersburg High School
The third week of school all CHS students took part in Mock Interview Day. Dress professionally with resume and cover letter in hand, students were interviewed by an army of volunteers. Students could choose to practice interviewing for a job, scholarship, or college admission. After the interview, the volunteers provided them with a five minute feedback and goal-setting session. Seniors will interview again in the spring while the rest of the student body can look forward to another mock interview next fall. Interview skills, letter and resume writing, and professional attire and behavior were topics covered by all CHS faculty and staff prior to this experience. Each Thursday from 11:30 - 12:00 is designated for professional speakers at CHS. Our "Thirty Minutes for Thirty Students" program has been very popular with students. They sign up to hear from speakers of their interest and have the opportunity to learn from them first hand. We have all sort of speakers join us: bankers, nurses, authors, college recruiters, civic organizations, community service organizations, athletes, and much more. When new things are happening in your school, it's easy for those in the building to take notice. But generally, those on the outside have no idea. We held two Community Leader Days to get the work out to our community. Boy was this a success! They didn't want to leave! We sent invitations (and email reminders), prepared snacks and a short presentation about our changes, had our student leaders tour them around the school, and then brought them back together to ask in depth questions of a teacher and student panel. We customize our visitations to the needs of our visitors. We've hosted many groups - business leaders, community leaders, teachers, pre-service teachers, other students looking for ideas to make changes in their school, parent groups, school change experts, state department officials, and many others. It is important to us that each group leave with exactly what they need. We take pride in trying to help them gain what they need from a visit to CHS.
 * Mock Interview Day**
 * Professional Speakers Series**
 * Community Leaders Day**
 * Visitor Program**

Each month students at CHS have the opportunity to visit college campuses. This program has been SO popular that four other area high schools have joined us in this program. If an alum is on staff, we make sure to take that teacher with us. Our band director was able to organize a special tour for prospective music majors of the music department from his alma mater. One student was able to have an impromptu audition for a piano professor on the spot. We even go so far as to arrange a lunch with former CHS students who are in school on that college campus. Our students benefit SO much from this exchange. Students have visited Auburn University, Samford University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Miles College, with many more to come!
 * Campus Tour Program**

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