Penn helps Richardson find path to bright future

Put a book in front of Penn High School student Tyler Richardson, and assign him a chapter, and he will do the reading.

Effective learning, however, takes a different path for Richardson.

Penn High School’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academy has helped Richardson discover a learning path that is leading to the future that’s the best fit for him.

“If you put a book in front of me and make me read a chapter, I can tell you what it’s about, but I won’t learn anything from it,” Richardson said. “It’s the same way with anything.”

Penn’s wide range of electives, and teachers to engage students with different learning styles has helped Richardson construct a solid foundation for his future. He will be attending Lincoln Tech in Indianapolis, and plans to go into mechanics.

“Penn has helped me with a lot of things,” Richardson said. “It’s given me options that I wouldn’t get anywhere else, such as the Career Center, and the different diploma tracks that I can choose from.

“I’ll be getting an Academic Honors diploma when I graduate,” Richardson said. “That will help me get into a lot of different colleges, but I’m going to a Tech school, because that’s what I want. Penn gives you a lot of different paths and options that will help you in life.”

Richardson said that Penn’s classes – primarily the many electives that the school offers – helped him find a future.

“I’ve always liked working with my hands,” Richardson said. “The woodshop and manufacturing classes helped me cement the idea that I liked working with my hands. Once I got to the Career Center, that’s when I realized that’s what I wanted to do with my life.”

Richardson said that he’s glad Penn has such a strong Tech component in its curriculum.

“It’s very important that high schools offer a Tech option,” Richardson said. “Not everybody likes to sit down at a desk and do paperwork, or sit down and do what the boss tells them to do. Some people like to diagnose things and fix things and work with their hands. I’m one of those people. You can’t sit me at a desk and make me read a book and expect me to learn. I have to put my hands on something to make or fix … I have to work with my hands in general. It’s very hard for me to learn any other way.

“I really liked that I had a lot of classes at Penn that had different ways of teaching, and worked with my learning style,” Richardson said. “I really like what Penn has done for me.”