Does your school charge for road trips?
A national school administrators group says it's worried about what it sees as a growing trend of "pay for play" trips that effectively discriminate against the poor -- a trend, it believes, that will only be exacerbated by the country's economic problems.
In a position statement issued Monday, the National Association of Secondary School Principals wrote: "The pay-for-play trend has triggered a legal, philosophical, and educational equity debate. The question centers on whether co-curricular activities are part of the free public school system to which everyone is entitled by law." The activities it has in mind include athletics, music, drama, clubs and so on. The statement says that California is among four states that require that any "school sponsored curricular or co-curricular activity be offered free of charge."
Is anybody seeing otherwise?
-- Mitchell Landsberg
Rachael Warecki, an English teacher at Locke Launch to College Academy, writes:
There’s no denying that it’s that time of year: October and November are the toughest months for teachers, mostly because the honeymoon phase between students and teachers has officially ended. Even my most well-behaved classes are beginning to push back a little bit, whining whenever they’re asked to move to a new task.
Group work? "Miss, I don’t like working in groups."
Silent reading? "Miss, I hate reading."
Note-taking? "Oh, no, Miss! Not notes! Notes are so boring!"
I feel like I’ve aged about eight years over the last five weeks. Yet, over these same last five weeks, many of my students seem to have firmly bought into a school culture of achievement. More important, they seem to have bought into the idea that they can individually achieve. My 12th-graders were genuinely excited to sign tutoring contracts, which, in turn, genuinely surprised me — I’d never have guessed they wanted to stay after school to do work. My football players were the most eager of the bunch. They came at 3 p.m., insisting that they had to leave at 3:45 for practice, but stayed until well after 4 p.m. to finish their personal statements. (I even gave them a two-minute warning at 3:43; they just nodded their heads and kept writing.)
Students are also holding one another accountable for success. Every week, the football players bring me an academic eligibility sheet to sign — if they’re passing their classes, they’re allowed to play. A few weeks ago, one of my second-period 10th-graders stopped me in the hall so I could sign his sheet. One of my third-period 10th-graders chimed in to say that he needed his sheet signed, too, and asked what his grade was. I told him it was a D, since he hadn’t completed his classwork.
Before I could say another word, my second-period 10th-grader — an A student — stepped in. “What are you doing, getting a D in Ms. Warecki’s class?” he asked. “Work harder. Get your grade up.”
The other day, some of my second-period students gave their classmate a hard time for not participating in group work. “Next time, participate sooner, OK?” they told him. “Even gangsters need to know English!”
Peer pressure: it’s a wonderful thing.
In all seriousness, when I hear these conversations, I know the October exhaustion was worth it. Who cares if I have to occasionally send a student to the office for yelling sexually explicit remarks during an exam? I’m winning some of my daily battles, and, if my students want each other to achieve, I might just win the yearlong war.
Rachael Warecki, an English teacher at Locke Launch to College Academy 1, writes:
If I had to pick the most difficult lesson I’ve tried to teach -- aside from the daily "no, you may not use your cellphone/iPod/electronic gadget in class" lecture -- I’d have to choose the lesson of tolerance.
All of my 10th graders, like most teenagers, believe that they are the most important thing in the world. For half my 10th graders, however, this excess of ego also means that they abhor the idea of anyone who might be different from them invading their world. This manifests itself in various types of intolerance.
These students are homophobes, if one can be homophobic without truly understanding the nature of homophobia. They think nothing of using the word “gay” as an insult and don’t understand why straight people might be offended. They are also racist. Even though they say they’re “just playin’,” I’ve heard black students firmly assert that all their Latino classmates “don’t understand a word you’re saying, Miss,” and Latino students call their black classmates “stupid [N-word].” While I wait, silently, for my fifth period to calm down so that I can continue instruction, the student repartee usually consists of this:
Student 1: Shut up already! Can’t you see she wants to talk? You’re so immature.
Student 2: You shut up! Shut your big black mouth!
Student 1: Shut up, beaner! Go eat a taco or something! Go eat some beans!
Student 2: Well, you go eat some fried chicken! You’re just a black whore...
At which, point they’re usually on their way out the door with a referral in hand, because I’ve tried the tolerance lesson about three times and it hasn’t worked yet.
Most recently, I asked my fifth period to write the most hurtful thing anyone ever said to them on a piece of paper and put it in a box. I then gave every student a second piece of paper. I told them I was going to read the slips of paper aloud, one by one. For every painful remark that someone had ever said to them, regardless of whether it was the one they had written themselves, they were to fold their second piece of paper. I told them we’d finish the activity by crumpling up our papers, throwing them away and agreeing to treat one another with respect from then on.
I’d gotten the activity from a first-year colleague who said she’d had great success with it, but I should have known that my fifth period would be too immature to handle it. The “insult” I came across most frequently while reading those slips of paper? “Gay.” The sad thing was that my students actually believed that being called gay was the worst insult they could possibly suffer.
What’s even sadder is that when I tried to explain that using the word “gay” as an insult would be like making the words “black” and “Latino” derogatory terms, my students said they were used to the racial slurs. They honestly didn’t care if they were called beaners or N-words; they’d heard it so many times that it had ceased to affect them. Of course my students are going to use racist and homophobic language: An environment in which your own identity is so casually devalued is hardly an environment conducive to breeding tolerance of others.
Read more High school students speak with intolerance »
Anum Khan, a student at Whitney High School in Cerritos, writes:
In less than two months, I will have applied to all my colleges.
Meaning no more writing essays. No more agonizing over short answers. No more wondering which activity to put and which to leave out. No more analyzing my chances of getting in.
In other words, no more stressing.
From now until the end of December is the high point of senior stress. UC applications are due Nov. 30, and USC's is due Dec. 1 (for scholarship consideration).
After lots of speculation and serious consideration, but mostly because our counselor required us to finalize our colleges two weeks ago, I’ve finally finalized my list, which includes UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, USC, as well as my out-of-state schools (more on that later).
Forms, forms, forms
First, I had to submit all my forms for recommendation letters to my teachers, as well as a secondary school transcript request to my counselor.
Our school also had a workshop on how to get these forms, when to submit them, how to prepare them, etc. We were even given a mock envelope that told us where to write our name and address, the school’s name and address, and most important, where to affix the stamps (because there are just too many seniors who don’t know that stamps go in the upper right-hand corner of anything that has to be mailed).
After staying up until 3 a.m. finishing my activity resume and autobiographical sketch for my counselor and teachers (to help with filling out the letters of recommendation) came the actual application.
The actual application
It seems kind of weird that it’s in the fourth part of my series on applying to college that I’m talking about the actual application.
That’s because the term "college application" ought to be synonymous with confusion. It seemed easy enough when I started on my UC and USC applications. I made an account, and slowly started filling out all the information needed.
I started with the things I couldn’t change (bio data, grades, test scores), then got into the short answers, and finally the essay (which unfortunately hasn’t been finalized yet).
Though looking through a drop-down list to find the classes that I took may seem easy enough, it’s not.
In the USC application, for example, there’s the option for Spanish 2 H and Spanish II H, which seem to be the same class. But this doesn’t even stay consistent, as the level three choices are Spanish III Honors and Spanish III H.
After chatting with some of my friends, we decided to just choose the class that looks the best. Spanish II H and Spanish III Honors it is.
Next came the problem of my classes not all fitting in the space provided. Because journalism and Model United Nations are once a week at our school, we get graded for them, but they don’t take up extra space in our schedule. The USC application, however, only has two spaces for electives (which are filled by ceramics and PE for me).
Side note: if you’re a USC admissions officer, please don’t hate me for bagging on your app. I’m sure the other private school ones are more confusing, but I haven’t started on them yet!
Read more College applications are really confusing »
Sarah Miller went from her home in Westlake Village to Nepal, where she made a video comparing her life with that of people she met there, finding different definitions of necessity, wealth and happiness.
Her work won her a Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence in International Education. The award is given to high school students who demonstrate an in-depth understanding of key issues in international affairs and the global economy.
Miller’s video included footage she shot while with a media team documenting human rights issues and the recent elections. She filmed an interview with the rebel leader at the time, Prachanda, who has since become the prime minister. Watch her video.
A recent graduate of Westlake High School, she has also made a video of her local orchestra.
-- Mary MacVean
Photo courtesy of Asia Society
Antero Garcia, a teacher at Manual Arts High, writes:
It’s gotten to be somewhat of a tradition here at Manual Arts High School. My first Thursday back after a two-month vacation last week, and the principal summoned the faculty for a brief after school meeting. Standing before us, our principal announced that he has been granted a transfer request from the school. Our principal was leaving.
This is my fourth year as a part of the Manual Arts faculty. Once we have hired our new principal, it will be the fourth official principal to run the school. That’s not to mention the interim principals who fill the position while the job search and interviews are conducted, which takes several months.
Last Wednesday, there was a giddy, strange atmosphere at Manual Arts. The campus was abuzz with the news of President-elect Barack Obama’s victory. At the same time, it was our principal’s last day at the school. During our nutritional break, a brief farewell ceremony was conducted. I took the opportunity, before returning to class, to shake our principal’s hand and let him know that I had learned quite a lot from him during his time at our school.
That being said, our principal’s departure was not without mixed feelings. As he explained in his farewell speech, “The process for converting Manual to an i-Design school has been taxing, to say the least, and the vision that I have for our students and school community may not be aligned with that of the new partnership and the groups that are creating the new governance structure.” I know that in the various roles I’ve taken on while our former principal was at Manual Arts –- school site council member, small learning community lead teacher, dedicated classroom teacher –- I have not always felt that my voice was recognized or valued by the principal.
I have no illusions about the unique challenges of leading a school such as Manual Arts. One of the strengths of our staff is that they are not afraid of voicing opinions or challenging ideas. I also recognize that the students and parents rightfully expect their culture and community practices to be recognized. Our school deserves visionary, collaborative and lasting leadership. I hope the fourth time will be the charm.
Sophy Cohen, a student at Santa Monica High School, writes:
Is it time for a change?
Homecoming Spirit Week was last week at Santa Monica High School, ending with an amazing pep rally to awe the whole school. Starting on Monday with Superhero Day, Superman and Batman filled the school. Following that, Nerd Day embraced Samohi, as '50s-style nerds with suspenders and taped up glasses calculated the classrooms. Wednesday was taken to a different level, proclaimed Dress Up Like the Opposite Sex Day. An interesting look into boys’ perception of girls and vice versa, balloon boobs and pulled down jeans covered the halls. This started conversations about our stereotypes of the opposite sex.
Thursday was declared Peace Day, and our school nixed the '60s-style flower children and opted for Barack Obama T-shirts and faces covered with peace symbols. On Friday, the big day, the rally of the year, the entire school gathered in to await the homecoming court.
For the first time, a girl decided to run for homecoming king. Untraditional? Yes. Against the norms? Yes. Following the change of our country? Yes. Samohi is a progressive school, always a step ahead in the next way to handle a situation.
After calls back and forth between the dean of students and assistant superintendent of the district, it was decided that since the application didn’t have gender specifics, there was nothing to keep a female running for a normally male position. Following that, her name was put on the ballot and the entire school voted. As she stepped out from the stage, the crowd burst out in cheers.
Although she wasn’t a winner in this election, her actions have opened the minds of students and teachers. She alone moved Samohi’s progression forward and wasn’t afraid to do so. So yes, not exactly normal in a high school setting, however, our country is calling for a time of change.
Photo credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times
Jimmy Biblarz, a student in the humanities magnet at Hamilton High School, writes:
I was recently elected to Hamilton High School's School Site Council. Most schools have SSCs, which are made up of parents, teachers, students, and other community members. The goal of the Council is to increase neighborhood involvement in schools, and to give all groups concerned about education (including students) a voice. The councils control schoolwide budgets, Title I funding, and various other issues relating to money and overall school well-being.
I was very excited to join School Site Council. I like that there is a body in which students are of just as much importance as teachers and administrators; where my vote counts just as much as my AP chemistry teacher's does! As I sat down at the first meeting, with my school-provided water bottle and turkey sandwich in hand, I began to read over the agenda. Hamilton recently received a $130,000 block grant, a special type of grant with fewer restrictions than other money schools receive. The only issue was that we had to spend the money by the end of the '08 school year (in all reality, April).
The assistant principal at the meeting told us that we should spend the money by December, worried that the national financial disaster could cause the district to renege on the grant. The principal had provided us with a list of things he thought were vital to improving Hamilton, and every item on the list resonated with me.
From supplemental textbooks to beautification efforts, the principal had provided us with an excellent list. I was so excited, as were the two other student representatives.
But instead of immediately spending the money, we had to take care of all the necessary administrative items. Elections of officers, formal introductions, etc., etc. And then we got to approval of the by-laws.
The district provides all SSCs with a by-laws template which I found to be perfectly reasonable. But some people did not. We spent the entire meeting (a meeting scheduled to be one hour that went on for
three) talking about the difference between an "alternate" and a "proxy," and whether alternates should have voting power or not.
While I can appreciate the importance of following Robert's Rules of Order and the necessity of having by-laws, I felt that our time would have been much better spent spending our Block Grant. This is the reason more parents and students and teachers don't get involved in things like School Site Council. They get so tied up in bureaucratic messes that the most important things take a backseat. SSC meets only once a month, meaning we have only two more meetings before we are ideally supposed to have spent the $130,000. Is it really necessary to debate for hours whether alternates should have voting privileges when there are teachers teaching without books and we have the power to stop that? Of course not -- it's ridiculous.
Six California teenagers have been awarded $40,000 Herb Alpert Scholarships for Emerging Young Artists, a program in partnership with the California State Summer School for the Arts, known as InnerSpark.
The scholarships were awarded in six categories: animation and film/video, creative writing, dance, music, theater, and the visual arts. In each category, a student received $40,000, to be awarded over the course of four years. In addition, two students received single-year awards of $2,500 in each category.
The recipients of $40,000 awards are Keary Champi, 17, of San Diego, in dance; Juan De La Cruz, 18, of Montclair, theater; Sage Po, 14, Camptonville, music; Esra Senvardarli, 17, Santa Rosa, visual arts; Kristian Talley, 16, Encinitas, animation; and Ashley Tapley, 18, Lakewood, creative writing.
Talley said he began taking his artwork seriously at age 12. As a student at La Costa Canyon High School in Encinitas, Kristian has re-started the art club and painted murals on campus.
“Receiving the scholarship is incredibly helpful to my family,” he said. “I am grateful, because it has lessened an economic stress for my family. I feel like a burden has been lifted. It has also made it much easier for my younger siblings’ college futures.”
Another recipient, Champi, began dancing in the fifth grade and is now a freshman dance major at Stanford. As one of five children, there was some concern that he was not choosing a practical profession, but the scholarship “was the push I needed,” he said.
Scholarship recipients were selected by InnerSpark department faculties; selection criteria included talent, character and motivation, likeliness of success in a collegiate or professional training program, and financial need.
-- Mary MacVean
Santee Education Complex is taking part in the People Speak Global Debates, a program to challenge high school students from around the world to think critically.
This year, students are debating climate change action plans in the fall, and in the spring, they will argue whether developed nations have a higher obligation to combat climate change.
Santee hosted a debate earlier this month, with an audience of more than 900 students and other guests. Brothers Eduardo and Richard Avina argued for the resolution: "The world should adopt our plan to significantly reduce climate change." Their plan relies on renewable portfolio standards and a carbon tax. John Reed-Torres and Christopher Angel argued against the plan, saying it is useful but people also have to change their lifestyles and the world has to mandate a reduction in greenhouse gasses, like California has done.
All debates will be videotaped and submitted to the United Nations Foundation.
 (The Santee debaters at the U.N. last summer.)
Santee will be eligible to compete for its second trip to the U.N. Foundation Youth Leadership Summit. The second annual summit will be held at the United Nations in New York in July 2009. It will bring together student activists to learn more about the issues, tour the United Nations and meet with U.N. officials.
-- Mary MacVean
Photos courtesy of Nicholas Richert, Santee
|
|
Jimmy Biblarz
Lance Chapman
Sophy Cohen
Antero Garcia
Nick Giulioni
Steven Hicks
Anum Khan
Lauren McCabe
Tim Schlosser
Erin Shachory
Phoebe Smolin