Summer Time

Ah, the summer months. For those with children (and those still holding onto the ‘inner-child’), these are the months filled with water-soaked hair, animated movies, and never-too-many freeze-pops. However, between the sleepovers and the sleeping-in, summer provides an ample amount of time every teacher’s biggest worry – forgetting. Accounting for a significant loss in literacy rates, the annual 3-month break brings for teachers a required catch-up session every fall. For low-income students, this decline is even steeper than with their middle-income peers, serving as a strong contributing factor to the achievement gap.

Here in York, there are plenty of opportunities for parents and grandparents and siblings and aunts and uncles to engage with the youth in their life in order to maintain their reading level during the sleepy summer months. Check out a few of the resources below to get started:

Looking for something this weekend? Check out a reptile show, puppet show, and lots of local vendors at Gifford Pinchot State from 10 am – 2 pm this Saturday, July 13^th all sponsored by the York County Libraries.

Know a youth in high school? Check out York Libraries’ “Money $chool” that just started! Pre-registration is required so head here -> http://www.yorklibraries.org/web/guest/money-school for more information.

Want to hone your child’s writing skills? Check out this summer writing contest for 5^th and 6^th graderssponsored by the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/kids-teachers/booksthatshape/

Have some time to spare? Join the York County Literacy Program and York County Libraries in their literacy tutoring efforts by volunteering your time. Check out http://www.yorklibraries.org/york-reads for more information!

Looking for an event the whole family can join? Check out the York County Libraries’ Summer Reading Club. Watch the video below and look for more information at your local library!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_sIWJ-K3oE&feature=youtu.be

Glimpse on Truancy

So what if students skip school? Should truancy rules be as strict? Even though it seems like the life of students are engulfed by education, is it worth worrying about a student deciding not to go to school when he or she does not feel like?  These are questions that parents and student have thought about.  Believe it or not, there are many problems dealing with students skipping school. 

According to studies by Lorenzo A. Trujillo, Assistant Dean of Students and Professional Programs at the University of Colorado School of Law, students that are left unattended, and the problem of truancy grows, it will have a severe impact on schools, courts, and communities.  “The importance of school attendance to achievement, engagement, and educational success has been neglected in most education reform and prevention initiatives.  School discipline, zero tolerance, and school safety concerns have combined to produce strategies that are counterproductive by pushing the problem out of the school and into the community.”  This is just a glimpse of the topic on truancy.  What do you think?  Read more of Trujullo’s study at:

* http://jjlp.law.ucdavis.edu/archives/vol-10-no-1/Truancy.pdf    

Discrimination Does Exist, by Pacheque Barber

            Discrimination, racism, sexism, prejudice, and hetero-sexism are all of the things that we as humans are aware of, but only a few admit that these things are a problem in our society.   . It’s like the “Big pink elephant” in the room; people know these issues are there, but no one wants to talk about it. I was on the Fox 43 news website and the title of an article caught my eye: “School: Transgender student’s birth name will be read at graduation.”  

Isaak Wolfe, originally born as female Sierra Liberty Stambaugh, wanted to run for prom king. The Red Lion Area School District denied Isaak the chance to run for prom king and decided to enter him for prom queen under his birth name.  He received help from the ACLU, and was allowed to go to prom with his date, but will not be in the running for prom king. Isaak states that he is disappointed in the school district because he believes that the district does not protect their transgendered students.

The Red Lion Area School District expressed that while Isaak Wolfe is able to wear a black cap and gown for graduation – colors worn by male students – his school plans on reading his birth name during the graduation ceremony. Upon turning 18 years old, Isaak plans on legally changing his name but it would not be in time for graduation. His family, friends and some of the teachers calls him by his male name and support him.

            It takes courage and strength to be a LGBT student in a high school where this community is not widely accepted. I imagined all of the issues that Isaak could have possibly gone through and it made me think: “if I were a student who identifies myself as LGBT, it would take a lot for me to attend school every day with the judgment and ridicule from students and even faculty.” Just think about it, there are kids everywhere who are a part of the LGBT community and are constantly bullied either because they classify themselves as LGBT or their parents do.  This can lead to events like the students not coming to school regularly, not doing any of their work, cutting classes or a full day, get into trouble, and all other issues that can occur. The school then goes from being a “safe environment” to a place where these students do not want to be.  I believe that the schools should do what it takes to protect each and every single one of their students and help them and motivate them to be successful and follow their dreams.

http://fox43.com/2013/05/06/school-trangender-students-birth-name-will-be-read-at-graduation/#axzz2SXTt6O8v 

The Impact of Early Chulidhood Education and Motivation

I recently watched a conference online about the importance and the impact of early childhood education in Union City, New Jersey. David Kirp, one of the guest speakers at the conference, stressed the importance of early childhood education and how it is imperative for students to be able to read by the third grade. If a child is not able to read by the third grade, then that child cannot read to learn about science, history, etc. Along with that, if the child has problems academically, by the time they get to the eighth and ninth grades, which are their crucial years of their education, there is a possibility that the truancy rate and dropout rate for those students will increase. Kirp talked about building a school system from preschool to high school which will help students exercise their skills and patience. Full days of high quality preschool education will keep and enhance their reading skills. This system will be continuous, engage parents in their children’s education, encourage parent meetings with the teachers, build a strong connection between students and thought-provoking teachers, as well as challenge students to their full potential. I agree with Kirp on his outlook on how important it is to have a positive rapport between teachers, students and parents. Parents who are engaged in their child’s education are extremely important because it gives both parent and child a chance to work on the child’s education and help inspires the child to succeed in school. 

Robert Slaven,another guest speaker, said “When given the resources and opportunity, the urban child will succeed.” I am not too sure if a completely agree with this statement only because I think that it takes more than resources and opportunity to make an urban child succeed. I say this because the child has to want to succeed and that drive has to be there along with the support of their caregivers. If the child is not motivated and is too wrapped up in the world that surrounds them, often times the child will still go down the path they choose no matter how many resources are out there. Being an urban child myself, I had different opportunities to pursue my childhood dream which was to be a dancer, but the school I was in and the people around me had no motivation for success at all. Because of their lack of motivation, even though there were resources available to me, I did not take advantage of them like I should have. The environment that I lived in and went to school in impacted me in a negative way. I started to lack motivation, and did not search for or use the little resources that were provided to me, I had no thoughts of furthering my education past high school because my surroundings were all that I knew. My mother pushed me into getting a higher education. Had she not given me two options to choose from (which were to either go away to college or stay home, work, and pay her rent) then I don’t know where I would be today. I do believe that getting a head start on education as early as possible, and staying consistent with the encouragement and motivation, will help a child succeed. 

Is Dating in Middle School and High School Affecting Your Children?

By Pacheque Barber

A recent Medical Press article I read titled “Dating in middle school leads to higher dropout, drug-use rates” suggests that students who date at an early age have significantly worse study skills and are more likely to drink alcohol, use drugs and drop out of school. While this isn’t farfetched to me, there are factors other than just dating that can cause a student to drop out or use alcohol. Pamela Orpinas who is a professor in the College of Public Health as well as the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior in Georgia conducted a study following a group of 624 students from the sixth to the twelfth grade. She conducted this study because there were very few studies that look at romantic relationships and how adolescents differ in the development of these relationships. At the end of each year the group completed a survey which indicated whether they had dated, and reports of different behaviors that included frequent use of drugs and/or alcohol. The teachers also had to complete questionnaires about the students’ academic efforts. The investigators who were following the students used two indicators of students’ school success which are high school dropout rates and yearly teacher-rated study skills.

            What they found in the study was that those students who reported to never, or hardly, date from middle school to high school had consistently the best study skills according to their teachers. Study skills consist of doing homework, doing the assigned reading, extra credit, being organized and working hard. The teacher also reported that students with the highest rate of dating had the worst study skills. "When the couple splits, they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this scenario could be linked to depression and divert attention from studying." Orpinas said. This isn’t unrealistic. If you think back to your middle and high school days and you were dating, think about how that really distracted you from your work on top of other adolescent issues. Take into consideration if there are other problems outside of school. I think that adults tend to forget how challenging it can be as an adolescent going through identity crisis and trying to find their niche. I remember being in high school in the only relationship I had during my time in high school; that was a rough time for me trying to find balance between school, family, boyfriend and friends. Once we broke up, it was so devastating that I didn’t want to come to school knowing my ex would be there, yet I forced myself to go every day. When my ex decided drop out and continue working at his father’s job, it made it a lot easier for me to come to school and be happy and concentrate on my work. My ex decided to drop out of school before we started dating, but I was doing my best to try to keep him motivated and stay in school. It didn’t work that way and I don’t believe that our relationship and his dropping out were connected.

            I do think that Orpinas has a point with her study and this article made me look back and think about what I was doing around the time I was dating. The only thing I think that Orpinas failed to do was take into consideration whether the students have other issues outside of a relationship that can cause an increase in drug/ alcohol use and dropping out.

            Overall I do think this was an interesting study and an interesting article to read. Below, the link provided to read the article. Enjoy!

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-dating-middle-school-higher-dropout.html

Is There a Simple Solution for Decreasing Dropout Rates?

By Pacheque Barber

As a first time intern and being able to actually see what it’s like from the inside out concerning issues of truancy and dropouts, I’m able to get a better understanding of how issues are being handled. My main question about dropout rates and truancy was ‘Why can’t the Board of Education just come up with a solution that benefits all students?’ Even though I knew it was more complex than just a simple solution, I just didn’t realize how complex it actually was. As I began to learn more about dropout rates, I learned that there is no one simple solution for these problems. An article I recently read called “Solving the dropout jigsaw puzzle” by Matt Harvey who is the Assistant Managing Editor for The Exponent Telegram, hit on certain points with which I completely agreed. In his article, Harvey quoted Delegate Marty Gearheart who represents West Virginia’s Third Congressional District. Gearheart stated that West Virginia has about a twenty-two percent dropout rate. Harvey broke that statistic down: “two out of every ten kids who start out in kindergarten won’t make it to where they obtain a diploma.” That alone shocked me, because we constantly hear about dropout rates and percentages but rarely understand what those numbers mean until they are actually broken down.

Dropouts and children who are truant are more likely to get into trouble with the law and possibly end up in prison. The prisons are overcrowded and the wheels are turning in the minds of those trying to prevent youth from being imprisoned; maybe one of the solutions is to continue to push students to keep them from dropping out. Harvey states that many defendants who show up in the courts are without diplomas or a GED. Harvey mentions Judge Alan D. Moats who looks over the Taylor/Barbour County in West Virginia who has a plan to target truancy early to prevent kids from dropping out. Moats’s plan continues after getting a hold of truancy early; he will not stop there but continue to stay on top of things to make sure that the kids are staying in schools and not behind bars.

Harvey mentions another thing to consider is that no child is the same and each child learns differently and is faster in some subject areas than others. One point he made that stood out to me was that trying to use the same educational methods and strategies may not be adequate for all students. And if the schools are trying a “one way” method without considering those who are not on the same levels, some students would be “bound to fail miserably.” Harvey explains not every student is a fast learner; there are some who need more time to process and understand the information being presented to them. Another issue may be the student isn’t getting the proper support from home. These issues appear very early in the education system and such children are labeled as troublemakers and are quickly over looked.

Altogether I was pleased with this article and agreed with the points that Harvey made. The dropout and truancy issues don’t have just a one solution fix and that the problem is a jigsaw puzzle. I do believe that there are many pieces in this puzzle and that focusing on a few pieces at a time will help complete the bigger picture which is helping our youth.

Below is the URL for the article so that you can read it yourself. I really do think this is an interesting short read and highly suggest reading it!

http://www.exponent-telegram.com/opinion/columns/article_e9d86744-7ed4-11e2-9120-001a4bcf887a.html

A Glimpse into the Youth Court Alliance...

Ever wonder what type of training our Youth Court Alliance students receive?  Wonder what I mean when I talked about Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ?)  Read on...

Rethink the Juvenile Justice Process:

Listed below is an example of a case scenario, which is similar to some of the cases heard in Youth Court Alliance. To get a better understanding of just how different the Youth COurt Alliance process is from the traditional court system process, read the scenario and look at the different Outcomes for John.

-Example Scenario-

John is constantly missing his first period math class.  If he does go, he is always falling asleep. John doesn’t get a lot of sleep at night because lately his parents have been fighting every night; he doesn’t want the rest of the students to know that, so he doesn’t say anything.  He doesn’t like the teacher, Mr. Smith, because Mr. Smith makes fun of his inability to stay awake. For instance, when the teacher woke John up last time, he said: "Maybe if you didn't sleep in class you wouldn't suck at math." John feels like he is innocent and the teacher is unfairly picking on him.

Traditional Court system Outcome’s for John:

        John has missed more than three days consecutively.  His parents will be cited to go to court, unless they plead guilty and pay the fine.  In court, his parents will undergo scrutiny about the how they get John to school and the Judge may shift the responsibility for the truancy onto John.  If this is the case, John will be fined and/or his chances of obtaining a license will be suspended.   Failure to pay the fine could follow John into adulthood and show up on his credit record.  

        In the court system, John has broken a rule and must pay the consequences.  He will never be given the chance to explain his side of the story.  If he does, he is explaining his story to an adult who is far removed from the daily goings on of a school.

       The problem that made John late to class in the first place will never be addressed nor will a solution come about.  His parents will still fight (unless they change something), he continue to sleep poorly, and will struggle stay awake in class.  Further, he will have to somehow pay the fine.

        John will have to find a way to deal with his truancy on his own, without knowledge of the resources around him to help him.

Youth Court Alliance (Restorative) Outcome’s for John:

        John has missed three or more consecutive days of school, so he’s being referred to Youth Court Alliance, where he and his parents have to sit in front of a group of John's peers.

        John will be asked questions about why he is truant.  This is where he can give his side of the story.

      The Jurors will be able to assist John in confronting his parents and the math teacher.

      Youth Court Alliance will recommend programs to help John, (Family-group counseling, teacher-student meeting, tutoring), instead of making him pay a fine.

   The Jurors will have to give John at least one session of Jury Duty where he will sit with the Youth Court Alliance members and hear cases just like his.  This is to help him understand that all actions have consequences - while he may not be FULLY at fault for sleeping in class, he must take responsibility and give back his time.  It will also help him understand the effects that people's actions have on others as he hears the cases of other students in his school.

      Once successfully completing the Youth Court Alliance process, John will have the chance to become a Member of Youth Court Alliance, and help others like he was helped.  

   If you're a parent, where would you rather send your child?  Better yet, if this was YOU, where would you rather go?