23 July 2008
Different Schools
Schools reflect the diversity of the nation's cities, towns, and villages. In addition to their paramount role in education, they are often focal points of community activities. They may serve as places to host civic group meetings, stage community theatre productions, and set up polling stations during local and national elections. The 2000 Census, the latest available, provides regional snapshots of the 16.3 million students enrolled in high school that year and the rates of graduation. The populous South had 5.7 million students in high school, the West 3.8 million, the Midwest 3.7 million, and the Northeast, the lowest number of high school students, 3.02 million. In addition, an estimated 1.1 million pupils are "homeschooled," that is, they stay at home to be instructed by their parents instead of attending public or private institutions.
There are 53 students in my class. We've gained a few and lost a few through the years, but most of us have been going to school together since we were in kindergarten. You know everybody in your class really well—you can call them all by name—and you can pretty well do that for the whole high school and most of the people in town, too.
People who go to larger schools probably think we don't have as many opportunities in a small school as they do, but I don't think that's true. Fewer students actually means more opportunities for all of us who are here. You can be involved in a lot more activities, because they all need people. So if you want to go out for a sports team, a school play, music groups or whatever, you pretty much have a good chance that you're going to get to play or perform.
In academics, we might not have as many courses as some of the large schools do, but I feel like our school does a really good job. If we don't have an upper-level course that you need, the school helps us take it from the community college or over the ICN [a statewide interactive telecommunications network that links all the schools].
One of the things I love about going to a small school like ours, with these smaller towns and all the farms, is that the school is the thing that links them all together. It's a central focus of life here. Games are a big deal in a smaller school. American football, volleyball, and basketball games draw crowds of several hundred people, but what I really like is that the musicals and plays are attended as much as the ball games.
This has been a great place to grow up. And when I walk down the street in town, everybody knows my name. I like that.
Anna Peterson, 17, grade 11, Prairie Valley High School, Gowrie, Iowa [http://www.gowrie.k12.ia.us]
I am currently in my final year attending a mid-sized school in a Minnesota suburban community. The school, Centennial High School, has an average class [grade] size of around 550 people, and receives students from a few nearby small cities. The high school is a source of life in our community for both the young and the grown.
The support our community gives toward our school can be seen by the turnout of people from all stages of life when a Friday night American football game is being played. Among the crowd are families watching their sons play, local sports enthusiasts, and the occasional senior citizen who could tell us about the early days of the team. The best example of this generally occurs in the fall, when the school holds the annual "homecoming" American football game. Alumni return home to see the biggest football game in the regular season. Before the game, students hold a parade, paint school colors on their faces, and display an incredible amount of school spirit.
Centennial High School offers classes that challenge even the brightest students. Classes cover a variety of topics—from learning how to bake cookies to learning college-level science and math. Counselors, coaches, and teachers all help prepare students for the road ahead. A student has four classes during the day, each held in a different classroom. There is a half-hour lunch break during the day. The school, in the suburbs [of the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul], is the center of teen life, and a part of who we all are.
David Lucas, 18, grade 12, Centennial High School, Circle Pines, Minnesota [http://www.centennial.k12.mn.us/chs]
My school, which is private, has about 650 girls ranging from kindergarten through grade 12. It is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. I love my school! There are so many cultural and educational opportunities. For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is five blocks away, and we often go there to actually experience things we have studied in class. Another thing I like about my school is that it is relatively small and close-knit, and all of us form a close community. I participated in community activities and sports, including softball and volleyball. In fact, we were the New York State Champions in volleyball this past year. My school also does an excellent job preparing us academically for college. I will be enrolling at a university in Pennsylvania this coming fall. About the only negative thing I can think of about my school is the fact that I have a long commute back and forth. I live in the Bronx, and I take the subway and a bus to get to my school in Manhattan. It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour each way.
Denise Bailey-Castro, 18, grade 12, The Chapin School, New York, New York [http://www.chapin.edu]
This is a great place to go to high school, because this community is so united, and probably the thing they support the most is the school. People have moved here from all over, to work in the mines or on the ranches, for hunting and fishing, all the outdoor life. So new people are coming in all the time, and Big Timber is small enough that it's real easy to become part the community. Friends from school usually hang out at each other's homes—especially at anybody's place that has a pool table or ping pong table.
Many people—newcomers and those who have lived in this area for generations—get to know each other by attending school events. I'd say at least half the town and a whole lot of people from out in the country go to our football games. Not quite as many come to basketball games, but we usually pretty well fill the gym. And it's the same thing for concerts, too. The games, the concerts, and the other school stuff are where everybody gets together.
I'm very fortunate to be where I am. I'm pretty sure I know everybody that was in the senior class last year, and everybody that will be in the top three classes this next year. There might be a few new freshmen I don't know yet, but I'll know them before long. I think about that sometimes—how it's good to know everybody you're going to school with. In the big schools, you're probably meeting new people in your own class every day.
David Foster, 17, grade 11, Sweet Grass County High School, Big Timber, Montana [http://www.sweetgrasscounty.com/sghs]
From the July 2005 edition of eJournal USA.
