Katerina Sanchez, 14, is a student at Coral Reef Senior High participating in the College Bound summer program with Breakthrough Miami.
For today’s installment in our series, The Secret Lives of Students, one student writes about the value of meeting people who came from poor neighborhoods and went to college.
Editor’s note: This post was written by high school student Katerina Sanchez who is participating in the College Bound program with Breakthrough Miami.
By Katerina Sanchez, 14
On Friday, July 20th about 35 9th grade students were invited to attend a meeting at the University of Miami Sports Medicine Center.
We were picked by our Breakthrough College Bound teachers to learn about peer pressure, leadership, and our plan A and B. About 10 speakers, including the Marlins Vice President and a professor that taught sports at the university, were speaking to us.
Many of the lecturers came from poor areas. They lived in the hood but were able to rise above the rest and not fall into drugs or alcohol. They managed to do very well in school. Continue Reading →
Mount Pleasant Standard Base Middle School principal Yolanda Capers. Mount Pleasant was the only state middle school to jump to an A from an F grade this year.
Principal Yolanda Capers says the grade stung because she saw her students improving.
“It’s devastating because…our students were still learning,” she says. “58 percent of our students made learning gains in reading. That’s a lot of learning gains. However we still received an F.”
This year, school leaders warned more Florida principals would know Capers’ feeling.
Asatta Mesa, 12, argues some students depend on the meals they eat at school, and that proportions should be larger.
For today’s installment in our series, The Secret Lives of Students, we hear about students who depend on the meals they eat at school.
Editor’s note: This post was written by middle school student Asatta Mesa who is participating in the summer school program, Breakthrough Miami.
By Asatta Mesa, 12
Many children complain about school lunch, but when they explain why they don’t like it, it’s usually because they don’t think it tastes good.
While that is important, there are also many other reasons why school lunch needs to be changed.
One of the worst things about school lunch is the proportions.
An abundant amount of kids rely on one meal a day, which is at school. There should be larger portions, because when kids don’t have proper nutrition, they lack focus.
All schools should also have resources to supply breakfast to students.
“Its Not Fair”
Most importantly, it is not fair, that depending on how much money you can afford to spend on education, determines the quality of your school food.
This shows that based off of your social class, you get better food. Continue Reading →
Some argue it’s unreasonable to require students with the most severe disabilities to take the timed FCAT exam. But others argue that students with severe disabilities might be placed into separate, specialized schools if school leaders know that means their test results won’t count.
The Smart College Choices web portal lays out graduation rates, employment statistics and earnings data for graduates of Florida’s 28 public institutions.
Users can see how much money graduates in certain degree and certificate programs can expect to earn. They can also see the percentage of graduates who got jobs in Florida.
Florida Department of Education officials said they issued incorrect grades for 213 schools. Those changes mean nine school districts also earned a higher grade.
The Florida Department of Education released big news late Friday evening: 213 elementary and middle schools had received incorrect grades and would be revised upward.
After revising the scores, 116 more Florida school earned an ‘A’ grade on the state report card. Seven schools moved to a ‘D’ from an ‘F’ grade.
The revisions also mean nine school districts will earn a higher grade as well. Those districts are Collier, Desoto, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco and Union.
Angelica Carr, 13, says having no homework will give students the time to study.
For today’s installment in our series, The Secret Lives of Students, we hear from one student about the methods she would like teachers to use to help her learn.
Editor’s note: This post was written by middle school student Angelica Carr.
By Angelica Carr
The methods of teaching that I like using are music, no homework, and field trips.
I like these methods all for different reasons but mostly because they appeal to me in certain ways, and most students my age would agree.
Music
I like using music as a method because you can learn almost anything through a song.
You can make a song about math, language, history, and even language arts.
Sometimes it does not even have to be a song; just a simple rhyme could serve the same purpose. Most of the time it’s catchy so it’s easy to remember, and it prevents teachers from having to teach the same subject more than once so they don’t get behind with the lesson plans.
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