by Tia'Lana Hunter, April guest blogger
My name is Tia'Lana Hunter and I am a junior at Edison High School in northeast Minneapolis. I wrote an article for the ThreeSixty youth journalism program about the new “fresh start” going on at my school. I got some good and some awful feedback. I’d like to share some comments and some of my opinions about my school's experience.
Fresh start is when all the teachers get "fired" and have to reapply for their jobs for the following year. This happened because students did not test well enough for five years on state assessment tests. Half the teachers this year are new, students are expected to follow stricter rules and school work is more challenging.
So far it’s not working too well. We have more classes and they're shorter. Students are disruptive. Our principal has said she’s concerned that students aren’t taking this seriously.
I feel that if the principal and our teachers want us to show progress, they need to step in and start to help more and interact. My peers expect to be helped and walked along the way. The teachers should take time out to explain and show how to do things hands-on instead of just throwing things at us. The principal could do observations and address what the teachers could do better to help the students.
Mandatory things such as taking the four-year life plan and grad test seem ridiculous. I feel these are only necessary for students who really don't know what their plans are after high school. Students just don't take them seriously.
I think it would be better if our school stuck to all the goals that have been set for the students and not just expect for the students to be totally independent. I also think that planning things would make our school better, because a lot of things are unorganized.
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