Editor’s note: While School News Network prioritizes student voice in our articles, we know there is so much more to tell. We believe that to truly tell the stories that need to be told, we should first and foremost elevate students’ ideas, opinions and experiences. We want to know: What is school really like for them? What do they enjoy? What needs to change? What are issues that need to be addressed? This spring, we spoke with a panel of 10 high-schoolers from nine of the districts we cover — urban, suburban and rural — to get their thoughts on what high school, and everyday life, is like for them.
Here, they talk about their experiences as students and what keeps them engaged. This is the final installment of several parts of our conversation.
Part 1: What is high school like for you?
Part 2: How much do mental-health stressors complicate the high-school experience?
Part 3: Do you feel safe at school?
Part 4: Are you feeling the effects of political polarization at your school?
Part 5: Is AI helping you learn, or just making you lazier?
All districts — Adults have a lot of ideas when it comes to making school better, but when we asked students what would make high school better they named several things: relevance, teachers who do more than lecture and enough time in their day to get things done before heading home. They said if a teacher is invested in teaching they will be invested in learning.
This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
SNN: How could high school be a better experience for you? If you could change anything about high school, what would that be?
Jackson, junior: (Referring to earlier discussion on having a lot of homework every night): “It sounds like we all want to change the workload.”
SNN: Could you elaborate on that?
Jackson, junior: “Especially for me, I just have a lot of work at home. So, that would be something that I would change because the teachers … (talk) about random stuff that we don’t need to learn and don’t give us more time to do the work that they give us. They give us the five minutes left of class.”
Ellison, senior: “With a lot of AP classes the workload is so heavy, and it’s all formulaic. You’re just learning to get to that AP test and, hopefully, you know what’s on it. … You just go through the steps and go through the motions and there’s not really a whole lot of actual dynamic learning.”
Zoe, junior: “It’s funny that you say that, because my (AP U.S. History) teacher (connects) everything that happened (in the past) … to politics now, because it really reflects. But I also feel like a lot of my teachers just talk at me, and at the end of the day, you’re just really tired and you can’t absorb that information.
“I feel like there has to be more hands-on (learning), because when they’re just talking for the whole hour, I’m like, ‘wait, what?’”
Jackson, junior: “I would agree with that, because you said you like (AP U.S. History.) I actually really liked AP U.S. History, and that’s one of my favorite AP classes, just because of our teacher. He gets you involved in it. I’m in AP Bio right now. … You feel like you should be involved because it’s science, but (that teacher) doesn’t get you involved at all, and it makes me just wanna go crazy in his class.”
Jadon, junior: “I should clarify, my teacher was really great and made it really engaging, but, again, I think the format of how they want you to learn is (about) working up to that AP test. Yes, you learn the questions. And that’s about it.”
Andrew, senior: “… Just teaching off the textbook doesn’t work.”
Anari, senior: “I learn better when I have that connection with the teacher. (With) some teachers who I don’t talk to or they don’t really ask much about me, I don’t want to be there really. But my sixth-hour teacher — for math and statistics — I enjoy her a lot because she actually likes me, and is not just there to teach, but is here because she likes kids. That’s huge.”
Jackson, junior: “Student involvement, teacher involvement – directly related.”
Ella, senior: “I have one teacher who starts the class off every day (with students sharing their) highs and lows. … It kind of gets everyone talking, and then she also goes through the week-in-a-glance schedule to try and get everyone involved in other people’s extracurriculars.
“I think that just kind of starts the conversation for people who want to be involved in the lesson for the day, versus just like, OK, she’s just gonna lecture at us, and then we’ll leave the class.”
Jadon, junior: “We are all motivated people, but maybe some of (our classmates aren’t), and that’s what it comes down to. They don’t want to be there and try to learn.
“It’s all internal. I was going to tie that back to the teachers. The teachers that really want to help the kids learn, they’re going to help the kids learn. But there are obviously some teachers (for which) it’s a job. They thought they would love it, but they ended up not loving it.
“I’ve known some of those teachers, and the teachers who really like and enjoy being there and want to help you learn are the teachers you’re going to make the connections with.
“So how do we get teachers to want to teach again instead of: ‘It’s a job’?”
Ellison, senior: “There’s so much heavy around the profession of teaching nowadays where a lot of teachers will chest about it a lot , like ‘it sucks.’ But it’s such a reflection. … How we are is a reflection of how they are, and that’s just like, a generational thing. That’s how it always has been.
“We are reflections of what’s come before us and they’re supposed to be teaching us. So I feel like the real root of a lot of our issues could be solved if we made teaching as a profession more appealing, because it is. I feel like there are many benefits to being a teacher.”
Andrew, senior: “… I don’t want to be a teacher, but the benefits of what you get from being a teacher (are many). (It’s not) the greatest pay, but (they get) insurance and all that. I don’t think many people know about that. It adds up, so it comes out to a regular salary. … But I feel like what pushes a lot of people away from teaching is just the base salary.”
Jadon, junior: “When my mom got into teaching … that was the job you would go to. (It was) a fulfilling, successful job to be a teacher. She’s told me that she doesn’t want me to go into education. I don’t plan to, but she’s like, ‘Not right now. It’s not a good career choice.’
“So again, how could our problems be solved by making teaching, pouring into students, a more appealing job?’
Read more:
• Student news crew explores how the district feeds thousands of students every day
• Student broadcaster pushes for positive coverage in advisory role
