ROGERS — The Rogers Police Department may use a new brochure and the Rogers Historical Museum may start using Spanish-speaking volunteers thanks to the efforts of Rogers High School seniors.
About 50 seniors spent the past week working in groups with businesses and organizations to solve various problems.
Tom Woodruff, the teacher who organized the projects, said the weeklong program serves several purposes. Students get real-world experience, and businesses and organizations get a chance to use the talents of Rogers students.
The program also strengthens the relationship between businesses, organizations and the school district, Woodruff said.
“It’s a win-win-win,” he said.
Robert Moore, Rogers High School principal, said he hopes to keep growing the program. Woodruff said he had twice as many students in the program this year as he did last year.
Students in this year’s program said they appreciate the experience, and not just because they got out of class for a week.
Austin Westbrook worked in a team to help the Rogers Police Department figure out how to recruit more minority officers.
“You learn all this stuff in school and you ask your teachers, what am I ever going to do with this?” Westbrook said.
He didn’t use any logarithms during the week, but the project was a good way to see how skills learned in school can be applied to real world problems, Westbrook said.
Westbrook’s group spent the week researching why minorities may not want to join the Police Department and how the department could build better relations with minority groups.
Maleny Albarran worked in a group that researched how to get more people, especially children, to visit the Rogers Historical Museum.
She said the project was a good exercise in teamwork, and was probably good for the museum, too.
“It’s better for us to do it than having older people do it, because we have a different point of view,” she said.
The group surveyed more than 100 people around Rogers.
Their recommendations, based in part on the survey, included using more bright colors around the museum and having some volunteers who speak Spanish.
Gaye Bland, the museum’s director, said the museum may use some of the students’ suggestions, including, perhaps, a tweaked version of a bilingual pamphlet the students created.
This is the second year the museum has participated in the program. Bland said she’s been impressed with the students’ abilities and maturity.
“It really has been more than most people would expect ... of high school students,” Bland said.
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The List
Project Groups, Businesses
Eight groups of Rogers High School seniors participated in the project, working with six businesses and organizations:
• Kent Rylee Automotive Solutions
• PB2 Architecture & Engineering
• Rogers Police Department
• Rogers Historical Museum
• Mercy Medical Center
• Best Sports
Source: Rogers School District