The Lakeland Ledger had a story on Feb. 25 about how a principal at a charter school in Lake Wales is boosting high school graduation rates and student outcomes.

The story was shared by Ellis Bullock III, who remembers that principal, Donna Dunson, as head of the Pensacola High School IB program some years ago.

Here's an excerpt:

When the state released federal graduation rate data in January, Lake Wales High School showed the biggest leap of Polk's 18 traditional public and charter high schools.

Its 2014-15 graduation rate was 78.3 percent, up 7.8 percentage points.

Dunson, excited by the news, credited her students and her educational model, which specifically uses student input to redesign the school's values and educational approaches. She has a council of students that helps advise staff, and the school has done surveys and focus groups about changes it has made.

Dunson strongly believes in considering students' wants and needs.

“The kids aren't the problems,” she said. “The adults are the problems in schools.”

In that spirit, McCance, Dunson and school staff came up with an plan for a contest that is intended to teach students “soft skills” — such as teamwork and problem-solving — while offering them a tangible reward for coming up with ideas to better the school.

The McCance Design Challenge, for which proposals were due earlier in February, invited students to work in teams of at least three to come up with a plan to move the school to a 90 percent graduation rate.

To read the full story, click here.