Target 5 Explained: WAB students will develop academic and intellectual knowledge.

"Why do I need to know this?"

It's one of the timeless and classic complaints you hear from students after a rough day at school.

FLoW21's Target 5 directly addresses this concern.

Academic knowledge is (and will remain) an integral part of a student's educational experience. Students will still gain a deep knowledge of subject-specific content. They will still be assessed on this information, and, as our teaching and learning methods and practices continue to improve, so will their test scores.

The key to Target 5 is creating a balance between that academic knowledge and intellectual knowledge, which is an understanding of HOW to apply academics in relevant, creative, and responsible ways to make a difference. More specifically, students will learn to reflect on society and create ethical and empathetic solutions to complex challenges.

ProFarmer, a student group that promotes fair trade, partnered with local farmers to sell organic vegetables on campus.

Target 5 focuses on offering both types of learning opportunities to students. To be successful, students cannot develop only academic or only intellectual skills. They must both be integrated into the learning experience. If a student masters an academic subject but does not know how to apply it, then what use is the knowledge?

Here's an example: Academically, you can understand facts and concepts related to poverty, like its economic cause and effect, its impact on urban environments, etc. Intellectual knowledge is the understanding of how to responsibly contribute to the alleviation of poverty through volunteering or pushing for change in public policy.

	For students, Target 5 means learning how to empathetically and ethically apply academic knowledge and skills beyond personal experience to make a difference.
	While continuing to ensure academic excellence, teacher teams extend learning beyond the skills and knowledge of a single subject for the purposes of intellectually designing solutions to complex problems.
	Parents will continue to support their child(ren)'s academic success and encourage them to use their intellect to have a positive impact.