Hoover Challenger

By Challenger Staff
Staff
staff@hooverchallenger.com

EDITORIAL: High school may leave you unprepared

February 2010

kat leroy illustration

Near the end of a turbulent four year education seniors sit silently, wondering what they got out of high school.

Some would say they gained friends that will last them a lifetime. Others would say they became better people and even more students would say they learned a great deal about themselves. But unfortunately an overwhelming majority of seniors instead focus on what they didn’t get from high school: the tools to succeed in college.

Since freshman year counselors, teachers and administrators are diligent about helping students pass their classes. But when it comes to questions about college, students are unacceptably met with door-in-the-face answers.

The sad truth is that students are left with very few adults in the school willing to take the time to answer their questions thoroughly. The problem is that not enough students have access to these adults and are left with unanswered questions that could have determined their success in life.

This situation, however, isn’t necessarily any certain individual’s fault. Three counselors are each responsible for the lives of nearly four hundred students, administrators are faced with daily disciplinary situations and teachers are overwhelmed by papers, grading and parents.

But these unlucky circumstances leave students at a devastatingly downright disadvantage that could easily be avoided.

The class of 2012, for example, has been provided opportunities that were never available to former classes. Not only has the GEAR UP program helped students succeed in high school, it has provided all sophomores with sufficient resources and individuals within the school to help answer their questions and concerns regarding high school, college and beyond.

A college preparatory course open to all students within the school would be the first step toward helping students understand the confusing road to college. There would always be a teacher that every student would know they could talk to about their future, solving a lot of the confusion that students face.

A second step toward giving students the tools to succeed beyond high school would be to provide each student interested with a college mentor. This would relieve an immense amount of stress from counselors who are already dealing with an overwhelming load of schedules, students and concerned parents. College mentors would be able to complete the task that counselors may not have the time or patience to complete.

The final step is to eliminate the mentality that educators only have to get students to graduate and that after that they’ll be someone else’s problem. This is obviously much easier said than done. However it is the most important step in giving students the power to succeed.

Of course, there will always be students who want to make a name for themselves. There will always be students wanting to know what they have to do after high school to accomplish that. And up to this point there has always been a certain disregard for these students.

Although college isn’t for everyone, these students need to know that they can talk to someone and get the help and information they’re craving for. With the current system in place, this hasn’t been happening.

In order to improve the futures of all students, administrators must look over this system and instill new methods of dealing with the growing number of students looking at their futures.

In the meantime seniors will continue to sit silently and wonder what they got out of high school and if what they got was enough to take them to their dreams.