Comments You Don’t Want To Miss — Tale Of Two Schools
We love that there are so many thoughtful comments on Civil Beat but sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. We also know that everyone is busy. So we’re exploring a new member benefit that highlights “must-read” comments.
Katherine Poythress‘ articles on high school graduation at the start of the week prompted a number of very thoughtful comments that deepened her reporting.
Member Lika Jordan, a teacher at Nanakuli High School, one of the two schools Katherine profiled, expands the picture of the school and its students.
Just a quick point regarding the 49% graduation rate at Nanakuli. It’s important to analyze the reasons and not just assume that it is a problem with the school, though the school faces many challenges.
The school population has declined from around 1,3oo to around 900 over the last few years. One reason is that, after waiting decades for homestead land, many Nanakuli families were able to build on the new homestead lots newly opened in Kapolei. Unfortunately, mortgages are so high that many families have had to invite relatives to move there with them to help with household expenses. That’s where many of our students went over the last four years. They are graduating elsewhere.
Some will recall that Nanakuli was ground zero for crystal meth several years after the class of 2010 was born. Many in the class of 2010 were in foster care and some moved out of our school district after bouncing from foster home to foster home. Some students have moved from Nanakuli to the continental U.S. or elsewhere and back to Nanakuli, again, losing credits along the way.
In another comment, Lika shares the ethnic makeup of the school.
- 53.1% Part-Hawaiian
- 18.4% Hawaiian
- 9.5% Samoan
- 7.2% Filipino
- 2.1% White
- 1.5% Black
- 0.9% Japanese
- 0.8% Portugese
- 0.3% Native American
- 0.2% Chinese
Member Olin Lagon responded to Katherine’s stories with a point that cut to the core of the issue, in my view:
What I am reminded of when I read pieces like this is that our keiki all have absolutely the same ability, just very different opportunities. And these opportunities have a monumental impact on lives.
Member Matt Derby, a Kaiser graduate, shared his thoughts on what the articles taught about the best approach to raise graduate rates.
I think that there is a lesson to be learned in your article from all schools in Hawaii — about two contrasting and different school leadership styles — where the one that presents a 95% graduation rate embarks upon a more robust one-to-one relationship building technique, seems to be more nurturing and presents a stronger student/teacher experience, and prepares the child to achieve a college education.
When administration, teachers and faculty take a personal interest in a student’s education, their well-being and become sort of a friend (than just “the principal, the teacher or the counselor”), it allows the student to grow exponentially in many other ways than just “text book smarts.” And, it shows them that someone cares about them as a person and sets them up to hopefully one day mentor someone in return.
These are some of the comments you might not want to miss on the site right now.
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