Competency-Based Education: Helping One Graduate to Help Others

Graduation is a special time of year, and it’s great to see how our learners are doing exceptional things as graduates and professionals, to see the goals they set in high school continue to grow and blossom into fruition.

Emily Levasseur is a student who had big dreams from the very beginning.

I can recall having conversations with Emily when she was a high school student at Monmouth Academy in RSU2 in Maine, when she was looking for ways to accelerate her learning and get to college as quickly as possible. She made it happen, in part because we were implementing competency-based education at the time and she could move more quickly through material as she could demonstrate what she knew at any time, regardless of what grade she was in. Additionally, she was motivated to get her collegiate and professional life started.  She graduated a year early in 2015.

But the piece I really remember about Emily was how much of a giant heart she had for her friends. She was always willing to help them learn, help them acquire new knowledge, and really just be there for them as a friend. She was also an exceptional student athlete and one of the first female wrestlers in the state. She didn’t think that was a big deal; she just wanted to win. Even when Emily was hurt and couldn’t participate in matches, she’d be on the sidelines, helping her coach and teammates with strategies.

Emily is studying a form of experiential therapy now, adventure therapy, and she couldn’t be more suited to the work of helping others.

To learn more about Emily and how her experiences in a competency-based environment are helping her to help others, download her profile.