There is no such thing as a perfect school, a perfect student, or a perfect teacher. Although, every day we should wake up and decide to be the best version of ourselves. Being the best version of ourselves looks different for us because we are all individuals striving for different things. If you are trying to study for a chemistry test then doing cardio would not be helpful, but if you were an athlete trying to stay in shape during winter than cardio would be beneficial. My point is that success looks different for everyone, but at Eureka the administration has put forward a set of expectations that they feel can apply to everyone.
You may have seen the white pages with purple and gold lettering hung around classrooms, your teachers may have even gone over them. These are called the Ready to Learn (RTL) or Wildcat way, created by our administrators to empower students. They talk about respect, technology, attendance and a few more topics. I’ll be honest, to most students these probably seem incredibly boring and useless to achieving our daily best, but to a reporter like myself I think that common grievances I have felt about my school experience can be applied to them.
There have been several instances recently where I have been in class and my teacher has told me to put my phone away or they’ll give me detention, but another teacher says nothing when they see a student on their phone. After going over the RTL, it clearly states that if a teacher issues a verbal warning to a student on their phone the next action to be taken is a detention. Personally I think this policy is reasonable- although inconvenient to be nagged about to get off my phone, I understand the effect it has on my learning. This is something that administrators kept in mind when creating the policy.
Sarah Goodman, Associate Principal, has an interesting standpoint on how technology usage affects the Eureka climate. Before accepting her current position, she taught Language Arts at EHS for 12 years, then served as an assistant principal at Rockwood Summit High School.
“I think that one difference that popped up, really during the pandemic, was this emphasis on technology. And I think that what happened for a lot of kids is we were asking students to learn online. So we developed a big dependency on Chromebooks, and phone usage went way up. You see that reflected in Ready to Learn because teachers really wanted to go back to having students who were focused in class, but also students who were engaging with each other,” Goodman said.
I can’t argue with teachers wanting students to engage with each other during class more, because I love talking. Jokes aside, there is something sad about walking into a silent classroom of kids hunched over on their devices when just inches away from a human, scenes like this remind me of ‘Wall-E’ and we certainly don’t want to get to that point. Social interaction is probably one of the most important things we learn during our time in school, and if phones have a negative impact on that then I see no reason for the current policy to be changed.
Social skills are not the only thing technology is impacting; studies show that learning is also suffering. Although annoying to be nagged about phone usage, I have found that reflecting on why I am at school and remembering I am here to learn has helped me be more accepting of the phone policy.
Students also use Chromebooks for a very large portion of their school work during the day. I much prefer completing my work on a device rather than paper and pencil. I am also a student that struggles to focus, so doing work this way can be very distracting.
When I returned to school from winter break, there was new software installed on my computer called Hapara Highlights. I looked up the name and to my dismay it was a computer monitoring software. I began to feel like I was about to start living in a dystopian society where my teachers would be constantly surveilling my every move.
Then I took a deep breath and remembered that the most interesting thing on my Chromebook was my search history of mukbang videos. I forgot about the software until in Language Arts when I was about to start an essay and my teacher, Mrs. Endicott, turned on a guided session and all the Chromebook displayed a message on a black screen that said turn towards your teacher. At this point chaos erupted throughout the classroom with comments ranging from how teachers are out to get us and that they must not trust us. Surely the district didn’t purchase Hapara Highlights to spy on students, right?
“One of the things that Hapara does is that teachers can limit the websites that can be open. I know that for myself, like everybody, whenever we’re on the computer it can be so easy when you’re working on something to open up another tab and let yourself get distracted. That’s just something that’s easy to do. So one thing that I think is positive about Hapara is that it just takes that element out of it without teachers feeling like they have to go paper and pencil,” Goodman said.
Well there you go, how bad does it really sound that our school just wants students to be able to maximize their learning while using district provided technology. Another concern that this addresses is cheating. If our one goal every day is to be the best version of ourselves, being a cheater is not a part of that. Hapara Highlights allows for teachers to quickly check what their students are doing, and silently redirect anything that is considered not on task.
The next topic the Ready to Learn expectations discuss is Respect, and this is quite the loaded word. Respect means and looks different to every individual inside our school. But hopefully we can all agree that everyone inside the same walls deserves it. How can we be the best versions of ourselves if we aren’t respected at our school? My mom always told me that respect is a two way street and you must give it to earn it, that is a fair statement. The fact that our administrators took time to carefully create expectations to benefit students makes me feel respected by them. I try to show respect back to staff at our school by showing up to class on time, using my technology appropriately and following instructions.
By trying to achieve that every time I step into a classroom has allowed me to have positive relationships with my teachers and adults at Eureka. By giving respect to the people that come to help me learn every day has led me to loving my school.
“I think that it’s hard for anybody to learn in an environment where they don’t feel that they belong, where they don’t feel like they are a valued part of it. And so whenever I was talking to students about respect, I wanted to emphasize that it really is something that you need to feel as a student, just like teachers need to feel respected in the classroom. All of that is part of having a school that’s a safe place,” Goodman said.
Administrators know that students need to feel respected and safe in a school setting to get something out of the time they spend there. Even though there are 8 administrators at EHS, every student can’t possibly have a relationship with each and every one of them.
“You’re not going to know all of the teachers. You’re not even going to know all of the principals and the counselors. So whenever we’re talking about those smaller learning spaces, those are the spaces where we do find our belonging. Just like if we’re a member of a team or a club. Those are other places where people can feel seen and can feel like people know them,” Goodman said.
Respect and belonging are two different things but they coincide with each other; you have to feel respected in order to feel a sense of belonging. Both of these things allow us to be the best version of ourselves, and it is reassuring to know that adults in the building are aware of that. With a student body as large as Eureka’s, it is hard to say that one can feel a sense of belonging to the entire school, such as a student who loves music and volleyball wouldn’t necessarily say they belong on the robotics team.
Getting involved with school activities creates a sense of belonging and pride for your school within you. Being with people that share common interests and beliefs empowers us to be the best version of ourselves. Overall, I would claim that students that are involved in activities enjoy their school more in a special way. Creating this environment where students love being is a clear focus for the administration at EHS.
“I would agree with you that involvement is hugely important and there have been a lot of studies. Dr. Schroeder actually did one for her dissertation that looked at how student involvement relates to student achievement. So I think that if we have students who do feel like they are a part of something, we tend to see that they feel more like they’re a part of the school,” Goodman said.
The staff at EHS have a clear desire to support students and have made observable changes to support that. But not every issue in a school can be addressed so easily- a review from Niche.com posted less than a month ago, presumably from an EHS student, reads:
“Overall, Eureka High School is a fairly good school and I am being a bit harsh. In general, we have amazing teachers who are willing to go above and beyond for students, however, the student body and administration is where the culture of the school deteriorates; while I know the administration is trying to improve conditions, they have continuously failed to address serious problems regarding hazing and racism throughout the school. We have had an insane amount of lawsuits in the past few years, and instead of just punishments for the perpetrators, it gets pushed under the rug. Additionally, my grade has had three suicides and the responses are lacking. However, I would say these issues are concentrated in certain crowds, and other than that the overall school population is pretty great.”
The user rated Eureka 4 out of 5 stars available on the website while addressing some very serious issues. The user again highlighted the incredible teachers that inspire students daily, but criticized the administration and student body.
“So whenever they’re talking about we’ve had suicides in our student population, every administrator and counselor is going to agree that student mental health is so important. I would say to anyone who felt like the response has been lackluster is that I would hope that they would go seek out some of the mental health resources that we have here at school. Whether that be the counselor, the social worker, or we have a social emotional therapist,” Goodman said. “So whether they go to any of those people, but I thought that all of those people have really worked together to try to provide a lot of support for our student body. It’s going to be impossible to have a perfect response every time.”
Suicide has never been brushed off by Eureka High School or the Rockwood School District, as many resources have been and will continue to be available for students who need guidance regarding this topic. On the back of all staff I.Ds is the number to the National Suicide Help Line, which shows the importance of suicide prevention to EHS. If you need mental health assistance, please reach out to the 988 Life Line.
Racism has no place in society let alone schools, although it is undeniable that it exists and students suffer from it every day.
“Racism is obviously a huge topic. So on the one hand, if there is a specific discipline incident that comes up, it’s important that we respond to that incident and work with the people who are involved in that incident,” Goodman said.
It is important to understand that student discipline is a private matter and we should trust that school administrators are properly trained to handle situations and always abide by the Rockwood School Districts handbook and policies.
“But if we’re talking about broader school culture that does go into this idea of respect and also belonging and making sure that we do have a student body who recognizes differences among the student body and that those differences are part of what make us a good cohesive school,” Goodman said.
There are ample opportunities for students to get involved, and make a difference in their school.
“Eureka Equity is one that’s really focused on how we can create a school environment where people of all different backgrounds do feel a sense of belonging at school, student groups like BSU that are dedicated to how we can make sure students feel seen in a group that really is an affinity group where we get to be with other people who might have similar backgrounds and experiences,” Goodman said.
EHS is known for their incredible athletics and activities department, which is a vital part of our school’s culture. Recently a new face has headed up the department, Scott Allen, who previously taught Social Studies at Eureka.
“He is really dedicated to how we are making sure that our sports are a positive experience for students. So that’s kind of like the reactive side is the disciplinary code, and the proactive side is having a person who’s a champion for all of those sports and someone who’s an administrator over those sports,” Goodman said.
In my opinion, the staff at EHS are dedicated to improving the student experience, and love their work. The two years I have spent as a student at Eureka High School have had a tremendously positive impact on my character. I look forward to walking in the doors at 8:22 a.m. and spending time around such amazing people. I have been able to find my belonging in sports, clubs and activities. I hope that you will share my experience and allow Eureka High School to help you be the best person you can be every day- I know you can do it.
