Much-loved LC High internship program ending

An innovative Lewis and Clark High School social studies program that began 20 years ago ended this spring in part because a districtwide curriculum change compromised the integrity of the class.

Over the years, Practicum in Community Involvement, or PICI, placed Lewis and Clark seniors in more than 100 local organizations. The program, developed and taught by John Hagney, married experiential learning with more traditional academics. Students in the two-semester class researched social issues that interested them and worked with organizations involved in the same areas. They also worked one-on-one with Eastern Washington University professors.

The change in curriculum, which went into effect two years ago, made a separate civics course a requirement. Lewis and Clark Assistant Principal Theresa Meyer said Hagney had the opportunity to realign his class with the new curriculum but chose not to.

“It would have hollowed it out and made it something different,” Meyer said.

Hagney said Lewis and Clark’s administration was always supportive of the program. The change, however, was just too much, he said.

“I really felt like I was pulling the plug on a family member, on somebody I really loved,” Hagney said. “Because I’ve really invested a lot into this.”

Last year, the final year the class met the senior social studies requirement, 100 students enrolled. This year, only 20 were in the class.

“It’s a tragedy. It’s an absurdity. It goes alien to everything education should be,” said Verne Windham, program director of Spokane Public Radio. “The obvious villains are bureaucracy. By which random bureaucratic rules are created.”

Spokane Public Radio has used PICI interns since the inception of the program in 1994. Windham said the students were competent and “highly educated.”

Students working at the Lands Council were given actual research tasks in addition to more mundane work, said Mike Peterson, executive director of the Lands Council.

“It’s a shame,” Peterson said. “Because I think it gave an opportunity for these bright kids to actually get some real-life experience with a nonprofit.”

The program was honored numerous times over its 20-year life. In 2001, it was designated a Washington state Running Start course. Hagney was a U.S. Presidential Scholar Distinguished Teacher in 1997. He also won the Washington State Civic Educator Award in 2007.

Shawn Jordan, director of secondary school support for Spokane Public Schools, said the Washington State Board of Education started requiring one semester of civics two years ago.

“There was a concern about the lack of civics education for students coming out of their high school experience,” Jordan said.

He said he encouraged Hagney to integrate the new civics curriculum into the PICI program, bringing the class in line with district requirements.

“I wish he had,” Jordan said. “He’s a great teacher. He’s a great man.”

Christopher O’Donnell was in PICI and graduated from Lewis and Clark in 2014.

“It was the first class that was focusing on what it was going to be like after high school,” O’Donnell said. “It’s definitely disappointing to hear (it’s ending). My first reaction was I was really lucky that I was one of the people that got to take the class.”

At the time, O’Donnell thought he wanted to study architecture, but after a year working at Integrus Architecture he realized he’d rather study mechanical engineering. Now he’s at Montana State University.

“I believe that at least from my perspective it’s the best thing that I’ve ever done in teaching,” Hagney said. “I’d like to see a better model for preparing students for college.”