Enthusiasm

If you entered a high school at 6:30 a.m. and found students excited to be there and eagerly waiting to learn, what would you think? You'd probably think you were either hallucinating, having a bad reaction to a new medication or were dreaming. This is not the case in a high school in Los Angeles.

Mitchell Landsberg, LATimes Staff Writer, reports that Palmdale High school has "Zero Period" that begins at 6:35 a.m. These students arrive when it is still dark, must provide their own transportation, and give up sleep time. Landsberg reports, "The class is sports medicine, and it is offered by Palmdale's Health Careers Academy, a 15-year-old school-within-a-school that has become a model of what a successful career education program can be. Students in the academy learn such real-world skills as giving injections and reading X-rays and also take college-prep math, English and science with a medical focus."

California has other high school programs:

  • film production
  • finance
  • technology
  • agriculture
  • construction
  • culinary arts
  • law and public safety
  • performing arts
  • auto repair
  • and more

[Mitchell Landsberg, latimes.com, April 5, 2007]