Bennington's Quantum Leap program offers something different for at-risk kids

Any explorer who discovers new terrain—physical, creative, or otherwise—begins by asking questions. Eight years ago, the founders of the Quantum Leap program had a few: Could the Bennington Plan, which Bennington College students use to design their own educations, work in a public school setting? Could the Plan Process get at-risk kids excited about learning?

Susan Sgorbati ’72 and Danny Michaelson, faculty members at Bennington for more than 20 years, with these questions in mind launched Quantum Leap. The pilot program—a mix of the Plan Process, mentoring, and mediation—aimed to tackle the alarming rates of truancy in the town’s primary and secondary schools.

What started as a volunteer-run experiment has developed into a strong partnership between the College and the local public school district. Quantum Leap now serves as a model for schools all over the state and country. Its innovative and effective approach to learning has been recognized in other ways; Quantum Leap’s extraordinary growth has been made possible by generous private and public support. To date, the program has served 355 elementary, middle, and high school students.

“In three years, Quantum Leap went from 7 to 104 students,” says Sgorbati. “We now have five different programs with two teachers and 12 mentors working for us. Just yesterday we were saying: ‘How did this happen?’”

The program grew out of what Sgorbati calls a “radical idea”—giving at-risk students responsibility to initiate their own goals.

The program grew out of what Sgorbati calls a “radical idea”—giving at-risk students responsibility to initiate their own goals. Quantum Leap students learn and practice conflict resolution skills and work to identify issues that have prevented them from succeeding. Mentors, who are Bennington students and members of the community, are trained in mediation to facilitate meetings between students, family members, and school personnel. They also help students develop an educational Plan that reconnects them to learning.

Michaelson says this is precisely what sets Quantum Leap apart from other mentoring programs. “It always circles back to education. That makes a Quantum Leap mentor more than a role model or a good pal.”

Quantum Leap has received support from the state of Vermont. The Governor recognized the value of the program in its importance to the community. Named a “Best Practice” by the Vermont Agency of Human Services, the program has become a model for schools across Vermont. This past summer, The Pew Partnership for Civic Change named Quantum Leap as one of three finalists for The 2007 Civic Change Award. Schools in several major urban areas have also expressed interest; Sgorbati and Michaelson have consulted with educators from New York to Ohio.

“Bennington students come up with really out-of-the-box ideas,” says Michaelson.

“I just love it. I love that somebody would think of that.” Danny Michaelson is talking about how one Quantum Leap mentor got a student to connect with a school subject that was difficult for him.

Two years ago, Nik Krause ’06, who studies Chinese, worked with an elementary school student who struggled with reading. Krause, aware of the boy’s keen visual sense, introduced him to Chinese characters. Through this approach, he helped the student to make strides in his reading.

“Bennington students come up with really out-of-the-box ideas,” says Michaelson. “I think that’s why the mesh with the College has been so successful.” As mentors, Bennington students provide a meaningful look into a future that involves college—a future that some Quantum Leap students might not have otherwise imagined possible. Like all mentors, they undergo 20 hours of mediation training in The Art of Negotiation and Mediation, one of several courses taught by Sgorbati and Michaelson.

Creative problem solving is at the heart of Quantum Leap.

The thinking involved with Quantum Leap is not only fresh, it’s also nearly limitless. Most social service agencies and people in the helping professions are limited by the types of problems they can address, notes Sgorbati. Through Quantum Leap, mentors have done everything from buying a prom dress to providing money for a family to buy groceries. “We have the freedom to do what is necessary to help a kid get back in school,” says Sgorbati. “That’s pretty amazing.”

Creative problem solving is at the heart of Quantum Leap, no accident given that Sgorbati is a dancer/choreographer and Michaelson is a costume/set designer. Their approach to problem solving—flexible but focused—comes naturally from their theater background and work as professional mediators.

“Mediation—an alternative way of dealing with conflict— works to solve problems,” says Michaelson. “It permeates everything we do. It’s the language we speak.”

“Working with a person’s strengths and interests—isn’t that what education should be?”

In fact, Sgorbati and Michaelson had a “lightbulb moment” writing a recent grant report. “We realized that we were integrating the steps of the mediation process directly into the structure of this program,” says Sgorbati. What is known in mediation as an agreement—reached through nonjudgmental listening and exchange—is a Quantum Leap student’s Plan.

Currently, every student in The Quantum Leap Classroom at Bennington’s Mount Anthony Union High School develops an educational Plan. The high school has also taken over management of the full-time Quantum Leap classroom it has hosted since 2002. The classroom is a space that allows students at risk of dropping out to focus on their interests and create a museum exhibit of their final projects each year. It was staffed by full-time teachers who came directly out of Bennington: Rachael Torchia '02, Oona Gilles-Weil '00, Dave Cornwell MAT '05 and April West '98, MAT '06. Douglas Herman '08 joined the classroom staff last year.

Sgorbati and Michaelson have led a training workshop for the entire teaching faculty at Mount Anthony—part of their plan to hand the program over to the school. Believing that education should involve parents, educators, school boards, supervisory unions, business people, state agencies, and especially students, Sgorbati and Michaelson are thrilled to see Quantum Leap grow and take on new shape in their community and across the state and country. Quantum Leap—this radical idea—makes a lot of sense, says Michaelson. “Working with a person’s strengths and interests—isn’t that what education should be?”

Quantum Leap Programs

• The Quantum Leap Class Room: a full day class room at Mount Anthony Union High School with teacher, Danielle Crosier, based on the educational principles of Quantum Leap.
• The Quantum Leap Academic Mentoring Program: a full day in-school tutoring program at both Mount Anthony Union High School and Middle School to assist students who are in danger of failing classes.
• Project Leap: an after-school program taught by Amy Beth Kessinger that applies the educational philosophy of Quantum Leap.
• The Quantum Leap Project Program, which includes the following:

The Pangaea Project: an after-school program where students apprentice to the head chef of The Pangaea Restaurant in North Bennington, Vermont and then prepare and serve a gourmet dinner for fifty at the restaurant.

The Public Art Project: Middle school students are designing and building a sculpture for The Bennington Museum working with Bennington College faculty member and sculptor, Jon Isherwood and MAUMS teacher, Matt Rice.

The Blooming Chefs: an after-school program where students plant their own organic garden, harvest it, and then learn how to prepare and cook nutritional meals.

Theater Arts Mentorship Project: a collaborative project with the Center for Restorative Justice in Bennington in which adolescents convicted of minor offenses write, direct, and produce their own plays.

What’s GNU? Global Network of Understanding: an international exchange that uses the Internet to connect students at Bennington’s Mount Anthony Union Middle School with students in Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Support for Quantum Leap, 2003–2007

• A.D. Henderson Foundation
• Leir Charitable Trust
• Mount Anthony Union High School
• Permanent Fund for the Well-Being of Vermont Children
• Southwestern Vermont Health Care Corporation
• Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union
• State of Vermont
• Velmans Foundation
• Vermont Agency of Human Services
• Vermont Community Foundation
• Private individuals

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