"Win Anyway" Writing Project for Mo-Op Students
"Win Anyway" is a philosophy the Missouri Options teacher is working into all aspects of his interaction with students. Each of the students in Mo-Op has a story to tell and can give a detailed list of all of the reasons they should not graduate and have success in the future. We do not dispute that the road to "victory" is a difficult endeavor, but will argue that failure is NEVER a predetermined fact. We strive to teach our students how to identify hardships and encourage them to develop the resiliency to attack those walls and tear them down to be successful. The power is in the choice of Success vs. Failure. Staff and students have daily group discussions and writing assignments to identify all of the reasons that they "should" fail. Then, they discuss and write about the strength it takes to ignite a fire within and "Win Anyway." The daily writing lessons help students to dissect their life choices and prepare them for the essay portion of the Mo-Op state test. Each student is challenged to incorporate changes and tear down walls that are hindering them from becoming the son, daughter, friend, and ultimately the mother or father that they want to be.