Reed students present turnaround plan
29th May 2012 · 0 Comments
By Zoe Sullivan
quick loan montel williams Contributing Writer
Helium balloons bobbed in the Sarah T. Reed auditorium, pulling on strings that held them tied to seats and forming an arch on the stage. A group of 11 students comprising the Reed Renaissance Initiative had decorated the hall in preparation for their public presentation of their blueprint for the school’s transformation. They, and many others in the audience work red t-shirts promoting the Initiative.
Reed is one of the city’s low-performing schools, with a 2010-2011 performance score of 33.7, well below the cut-off for what the state considers failing and below the district average of 69.2. But when the Recovery School District announced that a KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) charter school would be co-located in Reed’s building, students mobilized to prevent their school from being phased out.
With support from the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association, based just a few blocks from the school, and the New Orleans East Charter Academies (NOECA), which has made several efforts to take Reed over with a community charter, the Renaissance students conducted a detailed survey process with over 200 classmates. Teachers, community members, and Recovery School District quick cash loans pueblo co officials all came out to hear the students’ recommendations.
Bryan Kelso, a freshman at Reed, served as the master of ceremonies for the event, introducing his co-researchers, and while the event was clearly carefully planned, there were impromptu moments. In one of these, Kelso called upon fellow Renaissance member Amber Barabin to sing. Barabin improvised a soulful tune for the occasion, including the sentiment “we can change one school. All we need is your help.”
Student speakers took the podium to outline some of the institutional changes that would support their learning and help improve Reed’s outcomes. Jonshell Johnson, a majorette and ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) participant told the crowd: “I joined Reed Renaissance because I realized the potential Reed students had.” Holding the floor with Johnson, Jo’neishu Hickman explained that she had joined the committee because she felt that student voices were not being heard. “I feel that the needs and wants of students of Reed High are not being met by the RSD.”
Hickman described the need for additional college and career counselors for all grade levels “would help us to know, and personal loans midwest city ok actually remember, why we come to school every day and what we can look forward to after high school.” Tutoring and credit recovery classes were another need Hickman pointed out. Other programs that the Renaissance representatives proposed for students include nursing and counseling, and arts and recreation.
“Reed is full of untapped potential,” Ronald Johnson, a junior, told the audience, “so that students can reach their potential and truly express themselves.” Johnson explained that he is a dancer who “dominates” competitions, yet he lacks the support at Reed to continue developing himself and his skills.
“I don’t think that you can have a good school without a focus on the arts,” incoming principal Michael McKenzie told The Louisiana Weekly. “There so much data and research to demonstrate how that supports academic growth, self-esteem, that kind of thing.” He spoke with the paper in the school’s courtyard after the entire assembly had moved from the auditorium to release the balloons, each bearing a written wish for Reed.
McKenzie also said under his watch, steps would be taken to “focus on rigor and engagement.”
“We’re going to have payday loans sonora high-dosage tutoring throughout the school day, that’s data-driven, so we’ll know what students need to take part in our in-house tutorial program,” McKenzie offered, adding that he would also be holding “academic boot camps, to therapeutic sites away from the city and away from the campus.”
After the presentation, as people snagged balloons for release in the courtyard, RSD Deputy Superintendent Dana Peterson, reassured The Louisiana Weekly that Reed is not slated for phasing out and that KIPP Douglass would return to its building once renovations there have been completed. “We’re actually seeking a charter operator for the school, and working with NOECA…to make sure that there is room for a community voice and participation while the RSD runs the school. And NOECA is very much interested in being the charter operator.”
Asked about the potential for violence among students from the different schools, a concern raised by the Renaissance speakers, Peterson told The Louisiana Weekly “I think we are being responsive to the students, hearing what they have to say…We think the co-location can happen without any real glitches.” Praising the students for the work they had can i take out multiple payday loans done to research and prepare the blueprint, Peterson also said “I think this is arguably one of the most developed [participation] models that we’ve been working with so far, so I think it just makes sense to have those kids working with us to help build it out at other schools.”
Underlining her optimism about the prospects for the future, NOECA Vice President Cyndi Nguyen told The Louisiana Weekly “I hope that our partners that are at the table will continue to be true and honest to the recovery of our school and make sure that the kids’ efforts are not being wasted.”
McKenzie seems ready to step to Nguyen’s challenge, telling The Louisiana Weekly that the Renaissance organizers are his “leadership group.”
“I see us making a lot of progress because the students are ready for it,” he affirmed. “Schools turn around when kids take ownership of their campus and turn the school around.” And that, McKenzie said, is exactly what the Renaissance group is doing.
This article was originally published in the May 28, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper
