Student Council members at a recent conference said most middle school teachers are good. School buildings are another story: some students praised their brand-new schools, while others complained of overcrowded, crumbling facilities.
THEY ARE SOME OF THE MOST MOTIVATED YOUNG SCHOLARS IN THE STATE: STUDENT COUNCIL MEMBERS FROM TOWNS AS FAR APART AS ERROLL AND SALEM. AT THE GRANITE STATE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT COUNCIL CONFERENCE, THEY MET IN SMALL GROUPS TO FILL OUT SURVEYS ABOUT HOW THEIR SCHOOLS ARE DOING. THEN THEY DISCUSSED THE RESULTS. TO ENCOURAGE OPENNESS, NHPR AGREED NOT TO USE THEIR NAMES IN THIS STORY. FOR THE MOST PART, THESE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS GIVE THEIR TEACHERS HIGH MARKS.
19 26 I?d say out of all our teachers we only have one bad one. // and the others are pretty good.
MOST STUDENTS IDENTIFIED AT LEAST ONE GREAT TEACHER THEY?D HAD. THEY GAVE VARYING DEFINITIONS OF WHAT CONSTITUTES A GREAT TEACHER.
20 200 she helps you, and you can talk to her about anything, and she?s just like a friend, and she lets us bring in stuffed animals (laughs)
***20 227 I think my seventh grade teacher because he?s hard on me, he doesn?t let me slack off like the other teachers ***20 125 (stammering) probably my fifth grade one because I have a speech issue and she was awesome about it, she didn?t laugh and she didn?t push me to hurry up, and she got stuff for me to read and everything.
THE MOST COMMON COMPLAINT ABOUT TEACHERS WHO DIDN?T MAKE THE GRADE WAS THAT THEY DON?T CARE ABOUT STUDENTS. IN ADDITION, SOME STUDENTS COMPLAINED THERE WERE ONE OR TWO BAD TEACHERS AT THEIR SCHOOL WHO SIMPLY DIDN?T KNOW THEIR SUBJECTS. THIS YOUNG WOMAN SAID ABOUT 30-PERCENT OF TEACHERS AT HER SCHOOL SEEM TO BE STRUGGLING.
18 112 like if they have no clue they look stupid in front of everyone, and people make fun of them, and they can?t work, and it seems like its our fault cuz they get fired. // ME: How many teachers like that have you run into? // 18 144 quite a few (murmurs of assent). Like our class isn?t the best and we make them look really bad but they need to know that it shouldn?t matter what we?re doing, they need to shape us up.
STUDENTS HAD WIDELY DIFFERING VIEWS ON THEIR SCHOOL BUILDINGS. OVERCROWDING AND THE NEED FOR RENOVATIONS WERE THE BIGGEST COMPLAINTS.
004 50 Its kind of upsetting when you?re falling down stairs b/c theres dips in them. Or the waters don?t work in sinks in science lab or the gas things won?t shut off.****006 25 // our school is really old. //we have like ten trailers, too. . ***** 009 55 since we just got a new school, everything?s new. // so we don?t need anything right now
PERHAPS IT?S NOT SURPRISING, THEN, THAT SEVERAL STUDENTS SAID THEY FELT THERE WERE BIG DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SCHOOLS IN DIFFERENT TOWNS. MOST SAID THE DIFFERENCES HAD TO DO WITH THE SIZE OF SCHOOLS. BUT A FEW IDENTIFIED SPENDING AS A FACTOR.
15 108 I went to dover and the facilities there far supercede what we have a portsmouth. 16 03 supposedly portsmouth is fairly affluent but our schools are not what I would expect for an affluent town.
VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE SCHOOLS HAS GRABBED A LOT OF HEADLINES LATELY. BUT STUDENTS HAD A DECIDEDLY BLASÉ ATTITUDE TOWARD IT, SAYING IT WASN?T A PROBLEM AT THEIR SCHOOL.
16 43 I feel safe bc its small and you know everyone and you know who to stay away from
THAT REACTION DIDN?T SURPRISE THE ADULT WHO ORGANIZED THE DISCUSSION. JOHN LACROSSE IS A GUIDANCE COUNSELOR IN THE PLYMOUTH SCHOOL SYSTEM.
003 107 one of interesting things is kids don?t always see probls where adults do. This may be one of those situations, where they feel better at coping with those situations then we think they are
FOR EXAMPLE, LACROSSE EXPECTED STUDENTS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE TEMPORARY TRAILERS IN WHICH SOME ATTEND CLASSES. HE WAS AMUSED TO HEAR ONE MIDDLE SCHOOLER WAX ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE TRAILERS, SAYING THEY WERE AIR CONDITIONED AND MORE PLEASANT THAN ORDINARY CLASSROOMS. LACROSSE SAYS THE STUDENTS SEEMED TO APPRECIATE THE CHANCE TO TALK ABOUT THEIR SCHOOLS.
004 58 what struck me most is how interested they wree in answering questions. They had a lot to say and I hope theylll continue to do that, that their voice is heard.
OF COURSE ONE CAN?T DRAW OVERLY FIRM CONCLUSIONS FROM THESE DISCUSSIONS, GIVEN THE SMALL SAMPLE SIZE AND UNSCIENTIFIC NATURE OF THE INTERVIEWS. BUT LACROSSE FEELS IT?S WORTHWHILE HEARING WHAT STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY. HE PLANS TO SUMMARIZE THE SURVEY RESPONSES AND SEND THEM OUT TO THE PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS. FOR NHPR NEWS I?M
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