Students at Riverside High School Learn from Harvard Professor

In October, students in Matt Turner’s AP Research class at Riverside University High School in Milwaukee, had a very exciting interactive class via Zoom with Dr. Vincenzo “Enzo” Bollettino. They were learning and sharing ideas about research procedures and the way Dr. Bollettino had conducted an extensive research case study related to natural disaster preparedness and recovery in Bangladesh.

The Riverside AP Research Students in Mr. Turner’s class are each working on independent research of their own choosing throughout this school year and will have the opportunity to write a beginner's version of a case study as part of the course.

Dr. Ballettino was connected to the Riverside students because of Mentoring Mission, a small non-profit based in Chicago, that works with high schools in targeted cities to bring business mentors into the high school classroom. Many of those mentors are Harvard MBAs, or in this case, a Harvard professor.

Founder and Executive Director of Mentoring Mission, Carol Valentino-Barry, had worked on a project last spring with Mr. Turner at Riverside, so when he explained what his AP Research class was doing this school year, she went about finding a study and a Harvard Professor who could inspire and motivate the Riverside students.

A few days before the Zoom meeting with Dr. Bollettino, Valentino-Barry reviewed the Bangladesh case with the students. She wanted to ensure they had a basic understanding of his research. They started with questions like “Where in the world is Bangladesh and why does it have all these disasters?”

Students worked in teams dissecting a few pages of the case at a time. The case required detailed reading and attention to a brand new vocabulary. Then students shared main ideas and pieced together the overarching storyline, so they were prepared for the discussion with Dr. Bollettino.

A few days later Dr. Bollettino came to class to discuss the case via Zoom. The students each introduced themselves and shared their research topic and also shared the summary of his case as they understood it.

The professor was thrilled with the Riverside students. “It is exciting to have students read this research and understand the issues,” he said. After he went over his Bangladesh research with them, he gave them important points to follow in doing research:

1. Choose a subject that you have direct interest in or has direct impact because you will have to be the driving force to move all the research forward.

2. Read what other people have written and done around the area, including policy, research or programming. Once you see what other people have done, you can find where the gaps are or where there are conflicting results.

3. Interview the people involved. Often they can also refer you to other people or organizations that can give you additional information.

Later in November, students will share their surveys with students and faculty at Harvard and get expert advice on editing survey questions to remove bias and get the information needed.

Matt Turner said, "This is by far the most challenging work the students have done this year. It was a high reach to take on material from Harvard, but they were able to do it a little bit at a time."

This is exactly the reason Valentino-Barry started Mentoring Mission – to ignite passion in high school students to see possibilities for their future that they never considered – with the help of business mentors.

Last May, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Professor Steven C. Michael, professor of entrepreneurship and strategy, visited Riverside University High School to participate in a Mentoring Mission Cases in the Classroom case dealing with American Airlines. The students were in Matt Turner’s AP Economics class.

One of the bedrock programs of Mentoring Mission, Cases in the Classroom has high school students study a Harvard Business Publishing real business case study. Carol Valentino-Barry and the classroom teacher work with the students to understand the basics of the case. The final discussion of the case is conducted by a Harvard MBA (or grad of another top business school) with the students, in Socratic style. Professor Michael has been pleased to conduct these final discussions on several occasions with Mentoring Mission.

For more information about Mentoring Mission, visit www.mentoringmission.org