Jason Nevius / Science Park Teacher

Wingspan is the distance measured between the two tips of a bird's wings. The greater the wingspan, the more powerful the bird, and the higher it can soar. Of course, there is one bird that we all know to have the greatest wingspan of all, and that is the eagle. In American Eagle School there is one group of people that we like to compare to eagles.

Of course, you could tell right away that I was talking about our students. They are the fledglings that we long to see take their first tentative swoops through the morning sky, as they shoot a confident glance back towards the nest. What makes the eagle soar more majestically than any other bird? It's the awesome wingspan. At American Eagle School, it's our duty and joy to make sure that the wingspan of all our eagles is as wide as possible.

The reason that American Eagle School can make this possible is because the teachers and staff approach the learning process of each student with an abundance of personal care. Even though the school has introduced a well-designed curriculum and encourages an effective teaching style, there is still another vital ingredient. The teachers at this school go the extra mile to provide guidance that is customized for the complex needs of each student. A good example of this is found in the way that our teachers are encouraged to approach the writing lessons.

At American Eagle School, we want our students to learn that their writing has to be both clear and interesting for them to get their point across to their reader.  This is not something that can be taught in one lesson, nor even in one semester. It is a gradual learning process that involves the full attention of the teacher on each individual student. The teacher has to get to know and care about the student on a personal level in order to help the student express their feelings in their own personal way. This kind of attention to the educational and emotional needs of each individual student sets American Eagle School apart. Of course, this kind of reputation helps attract the kinds of teachers that we want to have mentoring our students.

Maybe what makes American Eagle School unique is the feeling that this school really places importance on the total well-being of each individual student. That attracts teachers who want to illuminate the world for young learners and equip them with the tools for success. This entails using finely honed teaching instincts to clearly point the way for one student, to gently give a nudge in the right direction for another, and to lovingly drag another student kicking and screaming towards broader horizons. We pay careful attention to signs unseen by anyone but the most involved teacher to make sure that our students fly away from the nest with the keen eyesight and the broad wingspan of the eagle.

So how can we measure something that is unique to each student like their metaphorical wingspan? Well, a wingspan is useless unless it is used to propel one's self higher up into the stratosphere. It's the future accomplishments and success of our students that really show us how broad their wings have actually grown. It's the future person that these students will become that makes us sigh in awe at the distance between the tips of the wings that they grew while at American Eagle School.
 
Just as an afterthought, I'd like to share the following piece of information. While writing this article, I found out that the bird with the broadest wingspan is actually the wandering albatross, which flies restlessly across the oceans. It is so used to staying airborne that when it does decide to make a landing, it can best be described as a semi-controlled crash. What better metaphor for us foreign teachers, who sometimes have to remind ourselves of what country we're in when we wake up in the morning?