The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Lauren L. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Observe - Local Meeting
Last Tuesday evening, I attended a local meeting at St. Joseph Public High School. When I got there, I was greeted with elaborate praise and worship of what is the "St. Joe Tradition". Taking my seat, I was handed a brochure full of pictures of beautiful gymnasiums, computer labs and libraries. Topic of discussion that night at SJHS? School improvements.
The first thing that came to my mind when the superintendent, Al Skibbe, said those words was "waste of money". The school board is proposing a $42 million bond to update the school, which, by the way, hasn't been updated since 1959. This project would include a completely new "café" style cafeteria, an improved science section of the high school, new lecture halls for all the schools, makeovers for the bathrooms and hallways, a new performing arts center, and 300 brand new Macintosh computers. Sounds legitimate, I thought to myself, but I am still unconvinced. Mr. Skibbe continued, describing the school system's poor security. Doors at all five schools in the system remain unlocked all day, allowing anyone in who wants to enter (including unwanted visitors). There are no security cameras in any school in the system and ancient locks and keys are used to lock and unlock doors. In replacement, Mr. Skibbe proposed thirty cameras in every school and security cards and scanners instead of locks and keys.
While the schools safety certainly sounded like it needed improvements, I thought that the other plans sounded wasteful. New Macintosh computers were just purchased four years ago. Cafeterias and lecture halls are still fully functional. The only problem with the hallways and bathrooms is that they were painted in the '70's. These improvements, I believe, will only serve to make the school "look nicer". Mr. Skibbe described these improvements with urgent vigor; "We need them now, now, NOW!" But do we really need them now? Don't students learn just as well in ugly environments compared to "newer" ones? In my opinion, the public schools are facing much larger problems than outdated sinks and toilets. The entire system needs to be rewired –on a national level. We need an environment where the time in school is used wisely. More AP classes for students that are capable of achieving greater things. Higher salaries for teachers, who devote more than fifty hours a week to their job. Most of all, we need a higher emphasis on education, instead of the main emphasis on extracurricular activities. If we are going to improve the schools, we need to start by improving the foundation, not the dusty windowsills.
