By Margaret Zheng One day after school, I happened to overhear a conversation between a sophomore and freshman I somewhat knew. The freshman had asked for general advice about how to navigate her first year of high school. Eager to give counsel, the sophomore answered that she should be sure to get involved in clubs, especially those for which she might eventually seek a leadership role, and to sign up for some volunteer opportunities since “colleges like to see that.” Just then, the sophomore had to answer a phone call. I, sensing that the freshman was not excited by the sophomore’s advice, took the opportunity to assure the young student, “It isn’t all about college -- high school’s a time to explore yourself.” “Yes,” she responded, “explore before going to college.” Out of curious daring, or daring curiosity, I then asked her, “Is college something you’re interested in, or is just something expected of you?” Turns out, she personally did not feel any need to attend college -- she, after all, aspired to be a farmer, one who plows and sows and harvests so that we may eat. Now, in her case, college may in fact help her greatly in her dream -- say, if she were to attend Penn State’s School of Agriculture, or more unconventionally, the deeply environmental College of the Atlantic (where all students major in Human Ecology but study it through various disciplinary approaches, from literature to mathematics to farming & food systems). But still I wonder, how often are we so brave or introspective as to ask not where or for what to go to college, but rather why at all? If you know me to any degree, you probably are now wondering, why I of all people would ask such a question. You may see me as an ambitious achiever, a righteous student, one who has so much in store for her via the expected college path. Why, the question shouldn’t be if I shall go to college, but rather, to which Ivy League school. Rest assured that though I heartily disdain blind worship of the prestigious Ivy League eightsome (which, may I mention, got their title simply from their athletic conference), I do intend to attend college, and indeed, an Ivy League school is on my application list, among other institutions that excite me. Why? A host of reasons: because my parents said so, because my teachers implied so, because I crave to learn, because I so desperately need to get OUT of my home and my neighborhood and this public school thing so to be finally free to develop and rely upon my own self -- if that fickle time-blind self learns to be reliable, that is. But really, even I have no inherent need to go to college. There are plenty of valid reasons to aim for college, one of which is to get a good job and earn a good income. That may rightfully be very important for you, yet the common wisdom that college grads are getting all the jobs these days is not as clear-cut as we would wish. There is certainly a chance that with an undergrad or even graduate degree you will still be lost in the job market, heaving debt upon your shoulders as you seek any work whatsoever to pay your rent. And according to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 20% percent of “good jobs” still only require a high school diploma, and 24% percent require only some college, an associate’s degree, or other type of “middle-skills” job training. Maybe you don’t care -- after all, college is an experience just as much as a potential job credential, and perhaps you don’t take to a job in manufacturing or “skilled services.” But...think about it. In a world of opportunities, there are wonderfully many paths that one could stride besides the well-worn trail of college. You could start a business, attend a trade school or apprenticeship program, join the military, volunteer for AmeriCorps, hone your craft as an artist, become a healer in yoga and holistic medicine, go hike the Appalachian Trail. Or if you’re just not feeling like college now and want a break after 12+ years of schooling, you could take a gap year. There are really cool programs like UnCollege and LEAPYEAR that even provide you college credit for a life-transforming year of travel, internships, and personal or spiritual growth, but you could also design your own hiatus from brick-and-mortar education. One person I know spent her gap year hosting workshops at high schools across America to hear what students had to say about their education -- and now as a college student, she continues her work in youth empowerment as the Executive Director of the nonprofit organization Student Voice. If you do decide that college is for you, there are still a plethora of options to explore, beyond the schools that you always hear North students and teachers talking about. Have you heard of Goddard College, a low-residency school in Vermont where you decide what and how you will learn? Or the Wayfinding Academy in Oregon, a two-year program that upturns the traditional college system, guiding you in discovering your capabilities and passions before immersing you in real-life internships and experiences to begin living your purpose? Look up “unconventional colleges” and you’ll get a long list of many other quirky schools that don’t just prepare you for an economy, but rather for life. Not everyone wants to try something daring or offbeat, and probably not everyone should. But perhaps you do. If so, explore your options. Your life is yours, so set out upon your own path and find what brings you value.
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By Josee Li Listen up CRN! Some seniors are ready to leave us some advice before they enter the next chapter of their lives. Here’s what they said: Sasha Hofman: “In high school, do what truly interests you, not what you think colleges will like to see. It will pay off in the end.” Connie Fang: “Give yourself room to take risks and to try new things and embrace the challenges, risks, and rejections that might come with it. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone, so approach new situations with an open mind so that you can grow and learn from them.” Nikky Nemzer: “Never underestimate how nasty the whole college process is. Start planning what you want to do and where you want to go by the end of your sophomore year so that when you get to junior year and all the deadlines start flying by you, you at least have a vague idea of what to do. Also, at the end of your junior year starting thinking about your college essays and start writing the second you see the prompts. Being prepared is an absolute necessity and (as someone who severely procrastinates) there is no such thing as too early.” Jules Bernstein: “Make sure you get involved in clubs and activities!” Lydia Roe: “Time management and prioritizing are actually really helpful skills.” Brynn Smith: “It doesn’t matter how smart or not you are if you don’t have the time management skills to match it. The further along you get in high school (and beyond) the more important time management becomes. Learning to start assignments ahead of time rather than the night before they’re due has probably been my biggest key to success.“ By Margaret Zheng I think many of us aren’t thinking. We aren’t feeling. We “go through” school, as if it were a necessity and not an opportunity. (And I speak of myself, too.) School may seem an institution that “is,” apart from us students, and whatever it “is” we must accept or otherwise escape. Live with it, or go somewhere else. I once thought I might escape. I dreamed of the Lawrenceville School, where -- I believed -- a culture of thought and empathy is strong and vibrant, where students are always engaged in bettering their school. Later, a former classmate who now attends that school informed me that the reality of private school education, though having its merits, is far from the utopia I envisioned. But I am here, at CRN, and not there. What envelops my consciousness now is not some disappointment of a reality, but rather a dream, an ideal, a hope transcending myself. I cannot bear being numb to hatred and blind to apathy. I’ve always believed our strength in Council Rock was our sense of community, our welcoming embrace. I thought I could revel in the love, pride, and unity of CR, even if academically I might be better served somewhere else. I thought of CR as a place where cliques, intolerance, and harassment exist only in the shelves of fiction. Or I thought they did. I hope. I cry, because I am part of the problem. I am not the kindest, most open-hearted person myself. I am quick to judge and eager to analyze, and my voice grows easily sharp and loud because of my passions. Prejudice, slurs, and hate swim in the deep, dark oceans of myself, and sometimes their presence cause me to fear or despise myself. It is human to love, and it is human to hate. The healthy choice is not to suppress our darkest sentiments and give them impetus to grow in our subconscious, but to be aware of them and choose not to act on them. Starve the wolf of evil, and feed the wolf of good -- but of both wolves shall we keep aware. Be not afraid of thoughts and feelings, for they are not your actions; they are not you. Feeling never necessitates action; injury never mandates revenge. Practice mindfulness, and entrain peacefulness. We all live in the same small world. We all love, and hate, and laugh, and cry…I forget that sometimes. We cannot forget. Like Lancelot of The Once and Future King, a lover of principle who feels plagued with moral imperfections, I sometimes act only upon a strong sense of “ought,” in lieu of compassion or empathy. But other times, I do feel, and when I feel, I am awash with emotion. The surplus of sentiment reminds me that in harder times, I could so frightfully easily be a bystander to hate or a perpetrator of hurt, but I truly cannot be either. I cannot escape the problems of school, nor can I let them be. I must fight for virtue. The motto of the Lawrenceville School, Virtue semper viridis, or “Virtue is always green,” still resonates deep with me. The sentiment expressed is not merely environmental, but also intellectual and personal and so much more. It means that virtue -– goodness, humanity, love -– is never outdated, and that we must at times take a fresh look at ourselves and evaluate how we can improve. It means that due to the tide of the times, no people remain virtuous by staying the same –- they must exert sustained effort to grow as persons, like plants seeking always the good light of the sun. It means that the ideas of virtue, like a detoxifying tea, rejuvenate one’s soul and brighten one’s existence. A community reflects deeply and honestly and then takes meaningful action. I have long been fascinated with the varied meanings of the motto, and now I wonder, can the idea of ever-vibrant virtue transform the community of North? Is a community of thought, empathy, and welcome dialogue only possible in a private school, in which students attend out of choice? Perhaps the issue is not our iron ties to bureaucracy -- ties which may be only as powerful as our submission allows -- but a culture of not caring, of indifference towards learning, towards fellow persons, towards love and hate. Too often I hear a tone of sarcasm in our school. I hear racial jokes, political quips, rude remarks, and not honest discussion about suicide. I have always felt something was wrong with them, with the pervasiveness of them, but they sometimes seem too entangled into our culture to protest. So often when I have expressed concern, I have been told not to take matters so seriously. Okay, so maybe I need to laugh sometimes, for endorphins’ sake. But the undeniably serious often begins with the seemingly innocuous. We need more school-wide gatherings, not for recreation or even for charity -– who can care genuinely for a cause just by tossing money at it, as a hobby? -– but for reflection and remembrance of unity. Perhaps we can have a Challenge Day, a day of compassion and connection, a springboard for a more welcoming future. Perhaps we can learn beyond the categorizations of grade levels, beyond the walls of the classroom, beyond the restraints of academics and curriculum. Perhaps we can all collaborate and teach ourselves what is to be human: to love, to hate, to hope, to fear, to wonder, to aspire, to imagine, to act, to be. Can we be genuine and find the essence of issues, thinking past the sarcasm and cynicism, past the political divisiveness, past our shared tendencies to dismiss the dauntingly important, to pass it off as someone else’s job, to cling to the status quo as if our pulse of life depended upon it, as if change were not our fate from the start when we grew from embryo to infant to child of dreams? Can we seek to experience empathetically and learn about lives different than ours, and celebrate and love our diversity, our diversity of diversities? Can we, amidst the differences, find the spark and spirit that unite us all, the light of life? These are the watershed years for Council Rock. We have been agitated, shocked, confused, relieved, divided between ecstasy and terror, and it is from chaos and uncertainty that we can grow in strength. I want us to think, deeply, and I want us to feel, truthfully. I want us to care about our school, our psyches, and our communities, and make something happen. Where is our spirit, our passion and compassion? It’s kindling, I hope. It shall burn us alight. By Maithri Nimmagadda The existential feelings of not knowing who you are or who you want to be in the world coincide with being a teenager, but part of growing up is understanding yourself. The Naviance Career Test that CR North students take before graduation aims to help in this goal, so many students are eager to take it. Unfortunately, the Naviance Career Test does not aid in helping students find out who they are. Aparna Dev, a CR North student, highlights one primary issue with the test, “I don't know how specific a personality test with two options can be.” For many, the test seems so vague that it cannot help students, but can only confirm some basic personality traits they are already aware of and in some cases provide inaccurate assessments of personalities. The test attempts to categorize people with simple questions and answers, but the problem is that most people cannot be accurately described with such a structure. This flaw leads to inconclusive or contradictory results for some students, such as Kacy Liang. After taking the test twice, Liang’s results were “inconclusive.” “It [the test] technically said my personality doesn't fit into any of them [the categories].” Such outcomes testify to how the test must be improved with more complex and diverse questions and answers. Students cannot be helped to understand themselves or what to do in the future if the Naviance test provides no real guidance. As a result, several students disliked taking the test, even calling it a waste of time. “It’s stupid," Charlie Alt said. Students become irritated and distraught, and the test becomes counterproductive by creating instead of relieving more angst and stress for students. Thus, the Naviance test structure and results often crush the potential for a helpful experience. Hopefully, with improvements, the test can help students with accurate rather than inconclusive or vague findings since many students do want to know more about themselves and their most suitable career options. By Margaret Zheng As a passionately obedient elementary school student and an avid apple-shiner, I would never have imagined that I would grow so tired and frustrated going to school. I suppose my “break” was soon to come, at the rate I’ve been philosophizing about education and escaping the bell routine for PMEA music festivals and other personally fulfilling educational trips – and recurrent snow days have certainly not helped to delay my emotional dissociation from the school system. But after spring break and the energizing flow of the orchestra trip to Iceland--during which I eagerly practiced Icelandic, immersed myself in music, and soaked in the soul-refreshing nature of the pure, fragile Arctic--I feel spiritually traumatized. The artificial rhythms of school and my disjointed schedule of AP and Honors courses, though exciting in their challenge and individually fairly relevant in their content, now resonate hollowly with a me who has rediscovered the joy of immersive, proactive freedom. Isn’t this senioritis, you might ask? Ha – but I’m only a junior! A high-achieving one, yes, who has accelerated in certain subjects and thus takes several classes with seniors, but that doesn’t change my graduation date. Besides, I would imagine that some degree of frustration with school is far from exceptional. Compare me, an avidly intellectual 11th-grader involved in music, with a 9th- or 10th-grader taking all Academic-level classes (the “normal” course load) who’s passionate about sports or some industrial art or whose evenings are largely spent on a part-time job. On the surface, we look very different and probably have never interacted much with each other except perhaps during gym. But search deeper within us, and you’ll find something strangely familiar: an American, suburban teenager struggling to define him or herself, who has a growing urge for independence and spite for arbitrary authority. Someone who, if not for attendance laws and the equally strong mandates of careers and family and higher ed, would probably think twice about going to school. Not that school is absolutely uninteresting and useless without such societal and social mandates, but there are some aspects of its regimented nature - take your pick - that, contrary to the CRSD mission statement, stifle rather than encourage students’ “self-fulfillment.” Such criticisms about public school are legitimate, even righteous. American public education has developed less along discoveries in the science of learning and child development, so much as through changing political climates in which various educational theorists have fought to have their plan of religious or secular inculcation instituted in the schools. Compare that haphazard school design with the revelations of anthropological and psychological studies that the natural way for children to learn is through play -- a sort of self-directed, exploratory learning -- and not through top-down instruction enforcing obedience and suppression of creative impulses. Hunter-gatherer societies have always allowed children this educational play, in which they instinctively experiment with new objects and concepts and imitate the guiding behaviors of adults and older children. Yet the success of democratic, self-governing schools like Sudbury Valley, in which there are no formal classes and no designated “instructors,” suggests that even in a digitally industrialized society as ours, the model of education as inculcation is not only irritating and restrictive for students, but also fundamentally superfluous. At Sudbury Valley, a private school enrolling children from ages 4 to 19, students spend each day doing what they wish, whether that is reading, running outside, playing video games, or having a stimulating conversation. They know no distinction between schoolwork and play as they truly live the proverb, “you learn something every day.” And when they are ready to graduate and to enter the adult world, they by their own volition have learned both the technical skills they need for careers and higher education as well as the self-management skills essential for life. There are other innovative models of education that might function better within the current public school system. Take the public high school Iowa BIG, founded four years ago collaboratively by three neighboring school districts. Students in BIG work in small teams to complete projects they design to be challenging and interdisciplinary and to benefit and engage the community, mastering along the way the academic skills and state educational standards taught in traditional advanced coursework, and gaining practical experiences that distinguish them on job and college applications. More examples of creative, 21st-century high school design, such as a school based in a museum, can be found on the XQ Institute’s website (https://xqsuperschool.org/xq-schools). Perhaps I should doubt my sanity, or at least my emotional stability, and take caution that my thoughts on this fervent topic of education may be outright crazy. But in my strange stirrings of spring fever I have wondered, what if instead of pursuing endless patchwork reforms to a fundamentally faulty system, we in CR started a new high school, with both students and adults as the designers? Then we would have the freedom to break as much or as little from current practices as we wish and could discover and realize our vision for how high school in the global, digital age should be. Let me suggest a name for this dream school, which again might be utterly unrealistic or deeply inspiring: Daring (Council-)Rockers Energize Adolescent Minds. For we teens were not meant to languish in boring or personally irrelevant classes taken largely for a grade. We were meant to grow into exciting, productive persons whose lives are defined by purpose and who are ready to soar into the beautiful chaos of the adult world and make our self-fulfilling contribution to this Earth. Think about it, feel into it, chat about it with your friends, colleagues, or whomever with a spark of caring. Then answer: are you ready to DREAM? USEFUL LINKS: History of American education, in two parts https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/welcome-back-a-brief-hist_b_8098916.html https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/a-brief-history-of-educat_b_8144756.html History of education, anthropological perspective https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/200808/brief-history-education Sudbury Valley School http://www.sudval.org/ High School Design https://xqsuperschool.org/resources/school-design By Maithri Nimmagadda As a wise sage once said, the ideal is to have “the best of both worlds.” Unfortunately, the suburbs often feel like the worst of both worlds. The suburbs are the combination of the city and rural area, yet they lack the benefits of both. The city is bustling with museums, malls, concerts, internships, odd jobs, and many more activities. The city holds the opportunities, especially for teenagers, to conveniently have a very busy and social life. Life is so convenient in the city because of the subway and bus systems as well as the proximity of stores and businesses. Conversely, transportation in the suburbs relies on personal cars rather than public transport. Not only are cars inconvenient because of their expense but also because of restrictions such as the age requirement to drive them. Transportation that relies on cars discriminates against people with less money, kids under the age of 16, and children with busy parents. Children are forced to be dependent on their parents to have active social lives and, thus, children cannot learn how to be independent. Unlike the city, the rural area offers a life immersed in nature, which the suburbs only nominally offer. The countryside has forests and greenery that is often part of the culture and daily activities. Hiking, exploring, and swimming in nature are more accessible and common in rural areas because of the landscape. Land tends to be cheaper here as well, so it is easier for people to maintain more area for a house and greenery. Often rural areas also have more local farms that provide families with locally grown food and many teenagers with work, allowing them to get a valuable labor experience that enforces hard work, responsibility, and independence. Although the suburbs can have state parks and forests, the culture usually relies less on outdoor and nature activities compared to the rural areas. In conclusion, the suburbs have some of the benefits of both the city and rural areas but lack the major attributes of both areas. By Will Sohn The D&R Canal is located in central New Jersey and was built in 1934 to connect the Delaware and Raritan rivers. Before the arrival of railroads, the canal allowed shippers to transport coal from the anthracite fields in eastern Pennsylvania to the businesses and factories in New York. Moreover, the canal served as an efficient means of transportation that shortened the journey from Philadelphia to New York City by 100 miles. In 1816, the New Jersey legislature created the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission to survey and map a proposed route for a canal. The commission quickly planned a route; however, the project did not progress until 1830 when the New Jersey legislature created the charter for the D&R Canal that allocated money for the construction, which was required to be completed within eight years. Finally, the project was completed in 1934. The main section of the canal stretched 44 miles and the total length of the entire canal system was approximately 66 miles. The canal was primarily used until the 1860s to transport coal from Pennsylvania to New York City. Moving into the 1870s, the canal’s use began to slow as the railroad industry began to grow. Now the canal route has become a part of the D&R Canal State Park. The park offers nature programs, a biking and hiking path along the river, and camping sites. I have visited the canal route and have biked there several times with friends and family. I have always had great experiences at this park and recommend it highly for anyone interested in getting outdoors and appreciating our shared history that is only a few miles away. Check out www.dandrcanal.com for more information. By Maya Shavit What is sexism? Sexism is a notion that minimizes an opposite gender. The tricky part of this issue is that the global society has been so exposed to gender bias for so long that it has become acceptable. The modern society has been a beacon of hope for a younger, more insightful generation to inspire and create change. The only way that full equality between women and men can be reached is to accept and abolish it by eradicating gender-biased products, continuing on tracks of progress, and being proactive feminists. As the future of the American people, teenagers must be aware of these issues in their lives since the world will only evolve if a new generation cultivates equality. The future can only be changed by those who will not stand for a world that dwarfs the female mind. In a 2018 interview with Freakonomic, the CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, commented on a new product Doritos is considering, a lady-friendly snack. Nooyi suggested that women “don’t like to crunch too loudly in public. And they don’t lick their fingers generously and they don’t like to pour the little broken pieces and the flavor into their mouth.” (Doritos has since denied that such a product exists.) Assigning inanimate objects to a particular sex in retrospect seems obscured, but it has been a monumental factor in marketing strategies around the world. Having pink pens for women or blue razors for men is an aspect of the global economy that most consumers do not think twice about, but it is problematic because it is generalizing human beings. By assigning items to a particular sex, we suggest that people should conform to certain standards and expectations for each gender. Industry titans like Nooyi are examples of people who are fueling the fire of inequality. Tacking these concepts to a particular sex forces unrealistic burdens onto each person to follow mindlessly in order to be successful. Progression in the fight for equality has been long and heartbreakingly difficult, but it is far from over. In 1920, states ratified the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote. The independent nation of the United States had been founded 144 years earlier. Every right that the modern day man has was gifted to him whereas his female counterpart had to work much longer to gain the same rights. This year, 242 years after the creation of the United States of America, some studies suggest that woman still earn less than men do on average, and according to a study published in the Huffington Post in 2015, just 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. The gap between the male and female sex has always been and still is colossal, but the only way to effect change is to be the hope women need. Maya Angelou, one of the 21st century's greatest activists for the greater good, spoke out on the need for feminism by saying, “I am a feminist. I've been a female for a long time now. It’d be stupid to not be on my own side.” The word feminist in a modern society often has a horrible reputation. Many people define feminist incorrectly as someone who thinks that women are supreme to men. That is where one can make a tremendous mistake. A feminist is one who believes in the equality and empowerment of both genders by pushing the boundaries and demanding fair treatment. To be a feminist is to believe in equality in every sense of the word. By achieving total equality, all aspects of the playing field of the globe are equal. Both economically and socially, the female mind is a force to be reckoned with and one that should be judged on hard work and talent and not by objectification or minimization by colleagues or peers. The everlasting struggle for equality is fueled by sexism that diminishes others instead of empowering them. The only way to overcome this persistent hurdle is to be the generation with a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. By undermining gender-biased standards; continuing the progression of those who were brave enough to speak out on a real issue plaguing the future doctors, lawyers, and global citizens; and believing in feminism, this turn of future leaders can be the ones to set a new, equal standard for all. By Shiva Peri How has the department dealt with censorship? In the past, we have had issues with people who have come to the show and seen work that they felt was inflammatory to their beliefs. On some occasions, we’ve had to take the work down and on some occasions we’ve been allowed to keep the work up. It’s always an issue that we have to deal with. We are in the process right now of writing a new [set of guidelines] that talks more about … [students’] … freedom of speech, freedom to create their work. How has censorship affected the art students produce? Especially in AP, the students are not censored at all. They are allowed to produce any work that they want -- even pieces that some others may view as inflammatory. … They’re allowed to [portray] nudes, they’re allowed to [portray] violence … [But] our policy states that anyone in the art department is not allowed to do artwork that promotes violence, nudity, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. Right now we’re dealing with the Confederate flag … The issue comes into play when it comes time to display that work. We often have many discussions with administration [about the art and the artist’s statement]. If [students] have a clear, concise statement based on what they were trying to say and things are not taken out of context, we have found that [the artist statement] eliminates a lot of the [potential] uproar. How does censorship affect how professional students can be as artists? We are a public school and we have guidelines under the law to follow. Whereas, museums and such are privately owned … This is a public school with taxpayers … If a student comes to us with a subject matter that we feel is inflammatory, we will often ask them, “What is it you are really trying to say? Why is it you are really trying to say that? Is it really important?” … We make sure, before we put a piece up, that there have been many layers of discussion as to whether or not that piece being created is really necessary or just for shock value. Ultimately, a shock-value piece is going to hurt many of the other [students’ artwork]. By Margaret Zheng As students, we are powerful. Don’t believe me? Then behold these active, insistent youth, who worked hard to effect change and, at least to some degree, succeeded: Last school year, student journalists at Pittsburgh High School in Kansas published an article exposing their new principal’s fraudulent resume and utter lack of credentials. A few days later, the principal resigned. In 2015, a coalition of Asian and Pacific Islander students in Portland, Oregon, campaigned to establish ethnic studies classes in their high schools. Praised for their thorough preparation, the students are now working with school district leaders to make curricular reform a reality. Also in 2015, students in Chicago Public Schools began a campaign demanding higher quality and more nutritious cafeteria food, leading both school- and city-wide boycotts of lunch. The pressure from the students and media caused the school and lunch provider to start offering lunch alternatives, albeit only mild improvements, just two months later. You might claim that our affluent suburban school does not have such grave problems as contaminated lunches and fraudulent principals, so we shouldn’t bother to carve out time from our busy college-prep schedules to attempt to improve school. And it is true that suburban concerns are rarely the focus of nationwide discussions of school reform. But that doesn’t mean that concerns don’t exist or don’t matter. Precisely because few adults can prioritize the radical transformation of “good” schools into “great” communities of learning, we students must advocate for ourselves and demand change. If you complain in the hallways or in whispers to your friends, you might as well complain effectually and aloud. Try out some of these ideas:
May I add that school publications such as The Indianite and Rock Reverb are great avenues for student voice? In fact, students in our district are already using their “voice” to instigate change. You likely know already of the student-backed petitions concerning our school mascot. Students are attending and commenting at School Board and Board committee meetings, reminding our educational decision-makers of the people they serve. Last December 1, 32 students throughout Bucks County, including a few from CR, traveled to Capitol Hill to testify on their experiences and observations of prejudice and hate in schools. Student organizations such as VOICE and DAC are also working to improve school according to their vision. And if their vision doesn’t match yours, speak up! We need your kindly dissenting voice. But before you sprint into action, please be reminded, as all we passionate beings must be, to think and to empathize. Your point of view is not the only one, nor the only reasonable one. Thus, as we pursue school reform or any other community change, we must also convene to discuss our problems, our experiences, our hopes, and our possible solutions, engaging not in a debate where there are winners and losers, but in a dialogue in which we seek the truth, together. That is the reason behind the name of a Facebook page I have started, CR Students for Educational Action and Dialogue (CRSEAD). I intended this page to be a forum for students to post their ideas and concerns about school, discuss educational issues, and eventually organize themselves to effect concrete change. Right now the page has only a few posts, most of them my own. If you see as I do the potential in a social media forum, please like the page and post on your experiences and thoughts on school. There are many ways for students to get involved in making school how they want it to be. One of the most powerful is something I have not mastered myself, but it is the key to any cultural change. Model in yourself what you want others to do. Youth and Making Change https://freechild.org/quotes-about-youth-changing-the-world/ How to Be a Student Activist https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/student-activism-on-campus/ Student Voice: Join the Movement! https://www.stuvoice.org/ How to Testify to Your School Board https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B68GijdDBXsdVjBhaTlZOV8zblE/view Student Rights in Pennsylvania https://www.aclupa.org/education/studentsrightshandbook/ High School Press Freedom and Censorship http://www.splc.org/page/high-school Youth Organizing for School Reform http://www.whatkidscando.org/resources/spec_youthorganizing.html Students Against Testing http://www.nomoretests.com/ Suburban School Reform http://www.aei.org/publication/the-most-interesting-school-district-in-america-douglas-countys-pursuit-of-suburban-reform/ Successful Student-Led Advocacy https://soundout.org/student-led-advocacy-success-stories/ How to Succeed in Protesting http://time.com/4105460/student-protests-university-missouri-president-tim-wolfe/ How Does Your School Look? Post It! https://www.facebook.com/throughyourlensphotos |
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