It’s exam time at Discovery Academy. Not for the students, for the academic program as a whole. The Academy is undergoing an accreditation process that takes place every six years.

 Jonathan Jones, Discovery’s Headmaster, says every aspect of the academic program is being examined. “Our mission, curriculum, staffing, administration, and facilities are being reviewed,” he explains. “The whole theme of accreditation is constant school improvement.”

 Discovery is currently accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools. But the Utah State Office of Education is responsible for carrying out the evaluation. Prior to his position as Headmaster, Jones spent 13 years working with the state conducting accreditation evaluations at dozens of schools. “I know what needs to be done,” he notes.

 He says the evaluation is an extensive process that includes annual reports and, for the six year evaluation, a statistical analysis of the program. Those statistics measure students’ grade point averages on their entrance and exit from the Academy, as well as SAT or ACT scores.

 The entire academic team participates in the process by identifying areas that could be improved and creating an action plan to achieve each goal. Jonathan says this process is critical to identifying and implementing improvements.  “It really makes us work together and take a good, close look at ourselves. Sometimes we have to rethink. There may be a better way of doing things.”

 “Feedback from parents and students is also part of the process,” Jones says. Within the coming weeks families will receive a questionnaire which asks them to share their perspectives on the Academy’s strengths and weaknesses.

 Once the paper work portion of the review is complete, an evaluation team will spend approximately two days conducting an on-site visit. Jones says that visit is where academy teachers have the opportunity to show evaluators the unique strengths of Discovery’s teaching style.

 “Evaluators won’t see teachers standing in front and lecturing. They’ll see teachers working one on one,” he says.

 Jones says in schools that use packet programs, students may or may not meet with an actual teacher. “They’re sort of on their own,” he explains. “It’s just a matter of reading and filling in the blanks.”

 Contrast that with Discovery Academy, where Jones says evaluators will see students completing an entire textbook, working side by side with teachers. “It’s definitely a tutorial program,” Jonathan explains. “The teacher is there to work the student and teach each concept so that the student understands. On every chapter, students must past a test with 80% or better. The students work individually but it’s personalized. If there is a learning disability we accommodate them right there, one on one.”

 Although the reports and site visit will be finished by March, Jones says the accreditation process is never really over. “The whole theme of accreditation is constant school improvement.”

Mikey Su'a and the Brigham Young University National Champion Rugby Team

When Mikey Su’a takes the field his opponents take notice. Su’a is part of the Brigham Young University rugby team – the team that won the 2009 USA Rugby National Championship.

 Originally from Samoa, Mikey and his family moved to Utah when he was a teenager. “Rugby is the main sport in the islands,” he says. Since his father and older brother both played for BYU, it was only a matter of time until Mikey tried out for the team as well.

 At 5’10” and 290 pounds, it’s hard to miss Mikey, either on the field or working at Discovery Academy as a member of the front line staff.“You don’t have to be a big guy to play,” he says. “It’s mainly fitness and speed. There’s no offense or defense so you’re always playing.”

 There are also no time outs and no water breaks during the two forty minute halves. “If somebody gets injured, we just keep playing,” Mikey adds with a laugh. “The medical staff just runs on and tries to stay out of the way.”

 Su’a and his teammates spend hours training. Rugby season runs from January to May. During that time the team trains at least two and a half hours a day, six days a week. Off season it’s 2-3 hours a day, four days a week.

 Mikey is studying sociology and has a 3.0 grade point average. He’s considering a career in criminal justice or counseling.  Besides his work at school, on the team, and at Discovery Academy, Mikey is also a husband and father.

 “It takes commitment and sacrifice,” he says, something he hopes was not lost on the Discovery students who often watched Su’a compete in weekend games. When some of the boys wanted to learn how to play rugby, Mikey was happy to teach them the basics of “touch” style rugby. “I don’t know if they’ll keep playing when they go home,” he says. But he hopes they’ll always remember what it takes to be a champion.

Drama therapy is not new to Discovery Academy. Therapist Nathan Mitchell has been using it for years. But drama therapy with masks? Now that’s a different story – and a different approach to effective therapy.

 “We’ve only been using the masks a couple of months,” Nate explains. He got the idea after he attended a workshop teaching more advanced drama with masks. As he thought of his Discovery students he realized there were therapeutic aspects to using masks.

 “What’s interesting to me is what happens during the process of trying to use the masks. Students talk about how different it feels to have the mask on and to understand someone when they can’t communicate in the normal ways they’re used to.”  He adds, “You have to work harder on the understanding side as well. You have to exert some energy. You have to listen more actively.”

To start the activity, Nate will sometimes have the group write down stories everyone knows in common, such as fairytales or movies. Then he divides the groups into teams with 4-5 students per team, giving each of them a slip of paper with one of the stories. He tells them they must tell their story to the rest of the class, without any words.

“At that point, I give out the masks,” he explains. All the masks are identical – neutral, blank and white. “You have to do this without any facial expressions and without words.”

 Nathan says students’ reactions vary. “Sometimes they get really excited and sometimes they think it’s going to be impossible.” He continues, “Sometimes when they put the masks on they sort of retreat and become less energetic. They have relied so much on just using facial expressions or words. That happens in a quarter of the students. The majority become more energetic and more invested in what they are trying to communicate. There are a few students who won’t respond or participate in any other activities but when we get the masks out they’re first in line.”

 After the activity students share what they did and how they felt. “We discuss the underlying meaning, sometimes unintentional meaning, behind a person’s posture, how far away a person stands when they talk to another person. Especially for some of the kids who have a hard time understanding social cues, it’s pretty good for them to understand what some of those norms are. Once we understand that we can practice how to communicate more effectively,” Nate says.

Eventually, he plans to introduce different colored masks to represent different aspects of a student’s personality. “From there I can have them take the stage and cast different students as different members of the sub personality. That gives them a visual of understanding their personalities and why they’re having some of the troubles that they’re having,” Nate explains.

Keeping therapy fresh helps keep students engaged and learning. Nate says mask therapy is another unexpected element of drama therapy. “Sometimes they’ll try to peek in my bag and see if I have the masks,” Nate says, “which is exactly what you want. You always want to keep them wanting more.”