Give Kids A Reason To Want To Stay In School
May 17th, 2008, 10:04 pm Hobby Shops
Being a high school freshman is intimidating, even if there are only 150 students in the school.
When there are more than 1,600, it can be downright scary.
That’s one reason we endorse the plan to require first-year students at Rochester Century High School to participate in a sport, activity or club of some kind. Not all 14-year-olds are “joiners,” and encouraging them to step out a bit, get to know some kids with similar interests and hobbies, could help get their high school careers off to a more positive start.
Skeptics, of course, see potential problems with the idea. How will freshmen, who can’t drive, get home after an after-school club meeting? Will teachers be asked to donate their time after school to supervise activities? In a cash-strapped district, where will funding come from? And will participating in the four-square club really make a difference in kids’ lives?
Chuck Briscoe, principal at Century, acknowledges that the plan is a work in progress.
“We’re going to do some more brainstorming next week, and when you get a lot of talented people involved, there’s no limit to the amount of good ideas you can come up with,” he said. “Transportation is one of the key issues we’ll have to work to overcome.”
Concerning staffing of the activities, Briscoe is optimistic.
“We’ll likely have staff members and community volunteers involved in supervising and helping the students,” he said. “Certainly, there will always be some combination of adults, and our goal is to try to manage this with the financial resources we have.”
Will some kids find a way to dodge this requirement? Almost certainly, and we doubt that the consequences for them would be severe. We think the vast majority of students, however, will say “Well, OK. What are my options?” Almost before they know it, they’ll be meeting new people, perhaps even spending time with sophomores and juniors who share similar interests. And once that network of acquaintances begins to form, the odds that students will graduate can’t help but increase.
That’s the biggest reason to support this new requirement. Try as they might, schools can’t do much to force kids to come to school. Gov. Pawlenty recently vetoed a largely symbolic bill that would have prohibited Minnesota teenagers from legally dropping out of school until they’re 18. It’s doubtful that such a law, with no enforcement funding to go with it, would have accomplished much.
Century deserves full credit for trying to go the other way, using a carrot instead of a whip.
“If we want to hang on to all of our kids, the biggest thing is to have them get connected,” Briscoe said. “We need to have an adult or two show that they really show they care about them.”
We have no doubt that kids who are involved in activities are less likely to drop out, which means that the stakes will be high as Century begins this unique effort.
“Every kid we lose, it’s somebody’s son or daughter that’s going out the door,” Briscoe said.
Tags: 14 year olds, briscoe, club meeting, comb, community volunteers, dodge, financial resources, high school freshman, Hobbies, interests and hobbies, joiners, no doubt, skeptics, sophomores, spending time, sport activity, work in progressRelated posts
