By: Alexsia Williams
Category Archives: School Life
Pros and cons of being homeschooled (high school edition)
By: Arturo Benitez-Osorio
Homeschooling in high school is all about freedom and responsibility. On the pro side you can skip the social drama of high school and focus entirely on your own goals. You can also finish your work faster instead of the 7-8 hours of being at school waiting for the bell to ring giving you time for a job, sports, hobbies and more.
On the other hand, it can get very boring since you’re not socializing with people that much. Like going to a fun school event, daily classes with your friends and lunch. It’s also harder because you and your parents have to make sure to actually learn difficult subjects without a professional teacher standing there teaching y’all.
Is it a good idea?
It is good if you’re someone who wants to get a head start on life and doesn’t mind studying alone. It is bad if you use it as an excuse to sleep in all day and not do work or if you feel sad when you aren’t around with your friends.
Who should do it?
- Someone who has a big goal and needs a flexible schedule
- Someone who is bored in class but gets the work done early
Who shouldn’t do it?
- Someone who loves to socialize and loves being part of a crowd and would feel left out
- Someone who needs a teacher watching them to get any work done
Conclusion
If you need more time and need to have a flexible schedule, but you will know that you’ll do the work on time and wouldn’t have trouble learning alone without a professional teacher and have everything turned in, then homeschooling is for you. But, if you struggle to stay motivated on your own then stay in a traditional school.
Why is it more important that we have more teachers of color in the education system?
By: Alexsia Williams
As someone who has grown up their whole life attending the public school system, there’s only been one teacher of color I recall having, which was in elementary school. Given that I’ve been in the Spanish immersion program my whole life, one thing I’ve noticed is that all my teachers teaching me Spanish have all been white. Now, there is nothing wrong with being a white Spanish teacher, but sometimes I do wonder what it would be like if I was actually being taught Spanish by someone who has grown up speaking Spanish their entire life and that’s their family’s native language. For this reason I believe that representation truly matters because when you have someone teaching you who also may happen to look like you, there is a more likely chance that you will end up building a better connection and a stronger relationship with that particular teacher.
Studies have shown that having teachers of color can be very beneficial for several reasons. The first one being is that having teachers of color can improve a student’s academic performance, and the outcome with that is that they have the potential and a more likely chance of being referred to gifted programs when they have a teaching professional who looks like them.
The second reason being is that when students have a teacher of color they often build more trusting relationships between themselves and the teacher. With building a trusting connection with a teacher who looks like them, students of color often have a role model and someone who they can look up to.
The third and last reason why teachers of color are important is because they can bring culturally responsive teaching practices which can improve the curriculum and make learning both more fun and engaging.
Although I haven’t had a lot of teachers of color through my education experience, I hope as I leave high school and continue on with my education in college, I hope to see professors who look like me.
Asking Students’ Opinions on School Dances
By: Story Houghton and Damiya Payne
Smoking in schools
By: Janessa Castro Cruz
All over the world, but mostly in the schools of the United States, children under 18 use e-cigarettes, vapes and carts more than any other tobacco product. The smoking begins to start as early as 6th grade. Teachers around the world claim to see it more in middle schoolers and in older students, it’s harder to tell as they get better at hiding it.
Smoking has a huge impact on students’ mental health and they either depend on nicotine or cannabis during the school day. School smoking policies can be difficult to apply to students, and many require proof of possession which has made students more capable at hiding their products. Tobacco and nicotine products are daily issues in schools and in children, and educators report that “it’s everywhere”.
The World Health Organization released 2 statements: to “free schools from tobacco and vapes” and a “nicotine and tobacco free school toolkit”.
The toolkit is a guide for schools to create nicotine and tobacco free environments, and it also contains topics on how to support students to quit and implement policies and how to enforce them.
Some of the guides for schools to implement a nicotine and tobacco free environment are:
- Banning nicotine and tobacco products on school campuses
- Refusing sponsorship or engagement with tobacco and nicotine industries
- Banning direct and indirect ads and promotion of nicotine and tobacco products near schools
- Prohibiting the sale of nicotine and tobacco products near schools
School-wide policies are difficult to enforce when it comes to tobacco use; some schools all over the world have requested for stronger policies and some educators only use the school resources while others demand a social wide shift. A lot of schools worldwide were successful at implementing those policies after the WHO’s statements were released, and were also successful in implementing policies that support tobacco and nicotine free environments. Even though the tobacco use in schools is still big, schools try their hardest to apply those rules.
Why ethnic studies is an important class
By: Calvin Westin
Ethnic studies was created during the longest strike in United States history at San Francisco State College to include marginalized groups and to re-enroll a student who was suspended for political speech. The strike lasted 80+ days and brought many different people from different backgrounds together, for example: Black, Asian, Latinx students, the Black Panther Party, the Third World Liberation Front, and many more. This strike led to the spread of ethnic studies across the country. The strike reformed the curriculum where white culture was dominant and changed how American colleges showed diversity.
At Highland Park Senior High School, Critical Ethnic Studies is taking these ideas and making them real for us right now. Instead of just reading out of a textbook, we get to see the actual stories of people from our communities whether that’s local, statewide, or internationally. In a city where 50% of the population belongs to minority groups, it is important that the things we do in school are current and reflect our communities. We learn about indigenous people in Minnesota, the history of Rondo, and the struggles of Hmong and Somali families who moved here. It’s different from a regular history class because it focuses on the deeper parts of history. We learn about systematic racism but also how people have practiced resistance against it.
This class at Highland Park is helping us become better at thinking for ourselves instead of just memorizing things. For example, we look at the 1969 San Francisco college strike and connect it to things that are happening in our world today. It also makes you realize that speaking up is important and your voice matters and that you can be part of making a change. By focusing on marginalized groups, the class shows us that all history is worth learning. It is one of the only classes where you can see and compare yourself in the lessons and understand how you and your family fits into the history of the US. Critical Ethnic Studies is not just about learning the past but instead it’s giving us the opportunity to understand our own lives and respect the people who came before us.
The shift in the digital
By: Weston Halgunseth
Introduction
A few months ago, in St. Paul, classrooms shifted from desks and whiteboards to beds and sleep. This change sparked a huge debate. While some students thrive in a digital space, others find themselves struggling with online learning. In my view, the overall effect of online learning on students is that it is mostly good but a lot of it gives a bit too much leeway.
The good of online learning
Online learning has some great benefits that help students feel better. You can sleep much more because you don’t have to wake up early to catch a bus or be in school on time. This helps you feel rested and gives you more energy to focus on your lessons, unlike what normally happens where you feel fatigued for the first 20-30 minutes of class. You usually have more time to finish your tasks so you don’t feel as much stress. You can learn at your own speed instead of trying to keep up with a fast teacher.
The bad side of online learning
Online learning has some good parts but it also has problems. It is hard to try your best when no one is watching you and it is easy to forget your assignments without the teachers reminding you. If you get stuck you have to wait for an email instead of getting help right away. It is also lonely because you don’t see your friends at lunch or in the halls making it so your social skill starts to go down. Because students feel alone and bored they don’t learn as well and their grades often go down. Even though computers are helpful, being in a real classroom is usually better for most people.
My own experience
Back in 2020, when COVID was a big thing, I was stuck at home for a year and in that time I experienced a lot of the things I talked about such as the lack of motivation, loneliness feeling, less stress, and grades dropping. In that year, I’ve noticed that my knowledge with most of the stuff I learned before the online classes was really rusty and foggy and it took me a bit to catch up to where I should be in math, science, etc. Like in math, when I got back, I was struggling bad and didn’t get a hang of it until I started getting help after school from friends.
I also noticed that online learning made it hard to keep my friends. A lot of my friends I had in 5th grade I lost when I came back because I hadn’t talked to them for a year or so, and overall online learning wasn’t the best experience for me. It ruined my ability to socialize, my knowledge went down and a lot more.
The verdict
The shift to online learning is a double edged sword. On the positive side the ability to sleep in and the freedom of more time to submit assignments greatly reduces my and many others stress allowing students to learn subjects at a pace that actually works for them.
However, these benefits are often ruined by the lack of motivation and hands-on help. Without socializing, students feel alone and lonely which can lead to a grade drop and people getting less educated because they aren’t truly engaged. Ultimately, while the flexibility is great online learning only works if we can find a way to bring back the social and strictness sides of a physical classroom.
The pros and cons of the ACT and the SAT
By: Karl Salkowski
Both the SAT and ACT are standardized tests used to gauge college readiness and academic ability. Almost every college in America accepts scores from both the SAT and ACT in order to determine admissions, scholarships, and possible financial aid. Both tests are timed, and have been shortened recently in order to make them less fatiguing for students. For example, the ACT has been shortened by 44 questions and the SAT by 56. Which test you choose to take doesn’t really matter, as universities do not accept one test over the other.
Overall, the SAT tends to be the more popular exam, with over 55% of students taking it in 2019. Both the SAT and ACT are learnable, and with studying many people are able to significantly improve their results. The math portion of the SAT calculates towards 50% of your total score, while the ACT is weighted equally. For the most part, ACT questions tend to be more concise and clear than SAT questions, but you have less time to answer them. However, both tests have no penalty for guessing, and you should leave no questions unanswered. Only your correct answers are factored into your score for both tests.
The digital SAT has a total time of 2 hours and 14 minutes, graded on a scale of 400 – 1600. It includes only two primary sections, math and reading/writing, both making up 50% of your total score. Science has no dedicated section but sometimes appears in part in the reading section. Overall, the SAT gives you more time per question on average. Both tests allow the use of a calculator for the entire math section as well. The SAT’s main difference to the ACT is that it uses an adaptive structure. Module two changes based on your performance in both sections.
The ACT is usually 2 hours and 55 minutes long and graded on a scale of 1-36 for your composite score. It is composed of reading, English, and math with optional science and writing sections. All scores are weighted equally. On average, you have less time to answer questions, but they tend to be more concise and clear. The ACT has a linear structure; all modules are independent and your scores from each don’t affect which modules you receive later in the test.
Overall, the tests are very similar, so I would personally recommend taking whichever test is offered by your school. I also recommend studying for the tests, as the question formatting can be a little confusing.
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Asking if people want to go in state or out of state for college
By: Story Houghton and Damiya Payne
AI’s impact on education
By: Karl Salkowski
As artificial intelligence continues to become more and more widespread and accessible, it only becomes more prevalent in our day to day lives. Every year AI plays a larger role in public education, but it is not always constructive. Although AI can be used to enable student creativity, it comes with the risk of over dependence. With artificial intelligence models becoming more aware and accurate it becomes harder to distinguish between human and artificially created work. New systems such as ChatGPT Zero and Turnitin have gained popularity as systems able to verify human work, but they aren’t always accurate.
AI can help students understand difficult concepts, simplifying details through instant feedback and explanations. However, AI can also be used maliciously in order to pass off assignments as student work. Over time many students become over-dependant on artificial intelligence leading them to fall behind.
AI has changed the landscape of education, forcing both students and teachers to adapt very quickly. Many schools use certain firewalls and tools to ban AI software on school WiFi, while others have opted to create policies on constructive and safe AI use. Many use these strategies in conjunction, such as Highland Park Senior High, which has chosen to block less trustworthy cites, while also integrating an AI responsibility policy.
AI forces educators to rethink how to assess students, figuring out new methods to preserve academic honesty. As AI continues to integrate more with our lives, students will continue to rely more heavily on artificial intelligence and online resources. This makes it significantly harder to judge whether student work is genuine or manufactured. In my own experiences, many of my teachers have decided against more traditional testing methods and started using new types of essays and activities that are harder to cheat on.
When used responsibly AI can be an incredible resource for students, but it is likely that most students have already developed an over dependence on it, leading to more of a struggle long term.
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