Credit: Ravi Kapadia

“My favorite part of being an Innovation teacher is getting to explore ideas with my students”, Patrie said. When my students have an Idea they should take things further, and better realize things”.

Students at Wayland High School (WHS) have a unique variety of additional electives they can add to their schedule, one of which is the class “Intro to Innovation Pathway.” Innovation is a class where students are challenged with real-life problems and must engineer and generate real-life solutions. Last year, teacher Hayes-Hart-Thompson taught Innovation, but this year, a new teacher is taking control of the class.

This year, Nicholas Patrie is the new Innovation Pathway teacher. In class, students work on critical thinking, problem solving and hands-on activities. The goal of the class is for students to be able to experiment with potential career options and to learn and grow as both a student and person.

Last year, Patrie was an assistant teacher helping out mostly in special education classes. Patrie explains why he shifted from being an assistant teacher to an innovation teacher.

“When the job opportunity presented itself, I drew on a lot of my previous experience working in a technical school,” Patrie said. “There was a lot of skills-based work experience, and a lot of hands-on classes I was working in. I felt like I would be a pretty good fit in this program here.”

Transitioning from being assistant teacher, to educating students about innovation is a big change, however Patrie feels like the adjustment has been easy.

“I was already familiar with the school’s culture, and the way things go,” Patrie said. “I know so many teachers and students so the transition went far easier for me, than a first year teacher who has come from a completely different school.”

Most high school teachers have learned about the subject they teach for numerous years, although there are some electives, like the Innovation Pathway, where teachers with very little experience can still be the teacher.

“I do not have any formal education in innovation, but what I have is a lot of experiences, and I have an inquisitive mind,” Patrie said. “I am the kind of person that has gone around the world and explored things throughout my life. The innovation classroom is the kind of perfect environment for someone like me, and any other student that thinks of themselves in that way”.

Learning skills that are involved in the real world can impact some students throughout their entire lives.

“I think what the innovation class gives students in the real world is a new set of tools for solving problems,” Patrie said. “Sometimes we are used to knowing what the answer is going to be, and what innovation says is that it’s ok to not know what the answer is. As long as you are willing to look for it, and try out some new things.