Staff Blog
Profiles of 9th graders
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| Benjamin Harold |
| Will Green of South Philadelphia High |
It’s always welcome, though, when someone examines the other side of this equation, the students who experience our education system every day. Over at the Public School Notebook, they’re doing just that with a two-part series called “No easy road,†which profiles students making the rough transition to 9th grade at a few of the city’s public high schools.
There’s Dominique Holloman, a 16-year-old who has struggled to balance her pregnancy, and her studies at Audenried, a recently renovated high school in Gray’s Ferry. Prior to the renovation, the school had a rep for serious violence and poor performance. Now, students like Holloman are finding out whether the brand-new facilities will change all that.
Meanwhile, Will Green at South Philadelphia High faced his own set of challenges, trying to find a more assured path to college via the junior ROTC program:
But following a disagreement with his instructor, he was kicked out [of JROTC]. He has yet to connect to any other activities. He hasn’t met his counselor. He wasn’t sure to which of South Philadelphia’s three career academies he had been assigned. Halfway through ninth grade, he’s adjusting his ambitions. He’s thinking that construction might be where he belongs.
Because of the series’ broad approach, the stories sometimes lack the details that really bring the reality of public schooling home. “No Easy Road,†succeeds however, in shedding a little more light on the tightrope-like experience of going to a public high school in Philly, and showing what it’s like to be on the other end of a lesson from a Teach for America rookie.
Part 1 and part 2 can both be found at their website, and while you’re there, you might as well check out some of their depressing but noteworthy statistics.
