Just got back from volunteering at one of the local public schools, New Hanover High School (NHHS). Through GE, I was volunteering to grade the oral presentations for student's Senior Project, which is basically a senior capstone project that is required to graduate; I had never heard of this before, but every student as to do it as a part of their senior English class, and I think it's a great idea.
Myself, Igor, 2 older men from the community, and an English teacher graded 4 students. Igor actually made the observation right after we left, but the difference in both background and quality between the first boy and girl, who were black, and the second girl and boy, who were white. Their speech was different, the quality/expensiveness of their presentation material was different, and their educational prospect were, in turn, different. The black girl and boy were going to a junior college and enlisting in the Navy, respectively, and the white girl and boy were going to ECU and UNC Chapel Hill, both traditional 4 year colleges. Not to take anything away from the black student, but they early were not entering the world at 18 as prepared & developed as the white students. The black guy, for example, seemed like a sharp, well-grounded kid who was joining the military with the hope of getting into engineering and earning his degree while in the military (and having the military pick up the expense, of course), but he mentioned during his presentation that his father was incarcerated, which certainly did not help him have more flexibility to go to a 4-year engineering school without needed to join the military.
The white girl* was clearly nervous and shook the whole time, but she had clearly done excellent research, had put together a website as her "product," and had really impressive booklets that she had printed out, and the white boy had a PowerPoint and fancy handouts. In contrast, the 2 black student used tri-folded posterboard and had handwritten index cards for notes; the teacher, who taught computer applications, mentioned that the reason not every student just puts together a PowerPoint presentation is because many students are not "comfortable" with a computer. In other words, they do not have access to a computer at home, and do not have easy, frequent access to a computer at school or a library extracurricularly. For me, this was an real life example of how a student can earn a high school diploma but still be functionally illiterate. Knowing how to type is a basic skill in the 21st century, and it needs to be taught just like shop class was taught decades ago, and how cursive was mandatory for every student when I was in 2nd grade [apparently, and thankfully, that is no longer require because, case in point, everyone just types these days].
*Her name was "Chaffin" I love the South.
On the way back to our apartment from NHHS Igor and I drag raced our Civics on Market Street. Though Igor had the superior car (Civic SI), I one handily due to superior decision making.
Myself, Igor, 2 older men from the community, and an English teacher graded 4 students. Igor actually made the observation right after we left, but the difference in both background and quality between the first boy and girl, who were black, and the second girl and boy, who were white. Their speech was different, the quality/expensiveness of their presentation material was different, and their educational prospect were, in turn, different. The black girl and boy were going to a junior college and enlisting in the Navy, respectively, and the white girl and boy were going to ECU and UNC Chapel Hill, both traditional 4 year colleges. Not to take anything away from the black student, but they early were not entering the world at 18 as prepared & developed as the white students. The black guy, for example, seemed like a sharp, well-grounded kid who was joining the military with the hope of getting into engineering and earning his degree while in the military (and having the military pick up the expense, of course), but he mentioned during his presentation that his father was incarcerated, which certainly did not help him have more flexibility to go to a 4-year engineering school without needed to join the military.
The white girl* was clearly nervous and shook the whole time, but she had clearly done excellent research, had put together a website as her "product," and had really impressive booklets that she had printed out, and the white boy had a PowerPoint and fancy handouts. In contrast, the 2 black student used tri-folded posterboard and had handwritten index cards for notes; the teacher, who taught computer applications, mentioned that the reason not every student just puts together a PowerPoint presentation is because many students are not "comfortable" with a computer. In other words, they do not have access to a computer at home, and do not have easy, frequent access to a computer at school or a library extracurricularly. For me, this was an real life example of how a student can earn a high school diploma but still be functionally illiterate. Knowing how to type is a basic skill in the 21st century, and it needs to be taught just like shop class was taught decades ago, and how cursive was mandatory for every student when I was in 2nd grade [apparently, and thankfully, that is no longer require because, case in point, everyone just types these days].
*Her name was "Chaffin" I love the South.
On the way back to our apartment from NHHS Igor and I drag raced our Civics on Market Street. Though Igor had the superior car (Civic SI), I one handily due to superior decision making.
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