NHS Student Interview

NHS STUDENT INTERVIEW 🙂
Interviewer: Jessie Rivera

How has a lack of school funding affected the school-life of you or your
peers?

Jacob L.:“ Lack of school funding has impacted my peers and I due to a lack of classes
that could more greatly benefit those who perhaps struggle with basic subjects such as
math, literature, or even science. In addition, being a son of a teacher, an absence of
proper care and treatment of teachers greatly affects things like mood, paying bills,
and stress. Thereby making their lives harder and it also make the students’ lives
harder”

Kevin H.: “It’s just a lot of rinse and repeat. It just kinda bores you after a while like
you could do a lot more with funding like events. You could also provide more career
opportunities as well as giving a more compelling education rather than just handing
a piece of paper to students and expecting them to get it done by the end of class.”

Emily A.: “I feel like it impacts students through lunch. Some students aren’t allowed to
eat since their parents/guardians can’t pay for them to have free lunch. I feel like we
should all be allowed to have free lunch, you know?”

Percy H.: “Me personally, I believe that the lack of supplies for classes has affected
learning. For example, if you take a Biology or science class then it’s likely you’ll have
labs but sometimes the students aren’t able to experience the actual experiment
because there aren’t enough supplies for every student to do their experiment and
learn. Ex: dissecting, chemical labs, materials for every individual, etc.”

Sofi M. : “It has affected what kind of school clubs there can be and it’s also taken
away free lunch from a lot of people at North.”

If money wasn’t an issue, what would you want our school to look like?

Jacob L: “I’d like to see more care of certain facilities. Also more types of teachers
available for teaching subjects that aren’t easily accessible. I’d like to see the school
be more open with subjects and not limit students with just a few classes.”

Kevin H: “I tend to go off the ideas that school has around the world compared to the
US. For example, Norway’s education system has more time to be liberated, less
government or state tests, no homework, yet they still have one of the higher
graduation rates in the world. So I’d say maybe having the means to have something
similar could really be a life saver to those who struggle to learn at school.”

Emily A: “I feel like when it comes to our school community, honestly it’s not that great.
I feel like even if we had the money, the community wouldn’t really change. Some
teachers are still probably going to be racist and there’s probably still going to be a
lot of fights. We’d probably only have more supplies for our classes but I feel like
focusing on our security and community is more important. “

Sofi M. : “If money wasn’t an issue I would want our school to have more clubs, snacks,
and materials in the classrooms. Also free lunch that has a variety of choices would be
nice because not everyone can eat certain kinds of food.”

What does equity mean to you?

Jacob L: “Equity to me means that everyone gets what they need to succeed just like
everyone else. Nobody is getting left behind and everyone is able to reach a common
goal.”

Kevin H: “Equity means to me kinda like fair but more understanding of situations and
acting upon each unique situation with the equality and fairness among other people.”

Percy H: “ Equity means that all are treated equally and not treated with a biased
view based on their background, race, gender, etc. Some students are treated
differently because of their background but staff never really listens to the student
without being biased because of certain rumors or previous behavior. In general,
equity should be fair to everyone even when given consequences.”

Sofi M.: “It means every school gets the funding that students need/deserve so that
they won’t have to worry about whether or not they can afford materials and stuff.
The funding should be divided so that every school should get what they need.”

How does a lack of school funding contribute to some social issues in the
world?

Jacob L: “I believe it contributes to social issues because a lack of proper education
and classroom systems designed to only treat certain kids with certain styles of
learning. This makes it difficult for people with other potential to get it in their heads
that they are worthy of education. It can demoralize them and can lead to dropping
out or working low paying jobs which continues the cycle of keeping those who begin
with worse circumstances on the bottom of the financial scale. Keeping those who
begin in negative situations in those negative situations.”

Kevin H: “I think the lack of school funding contributes to some social issues just by the
idea that we can’t have social events. This makes it really hard to meet and connect
with new people.”

Percy H: “One could go for food just because people struggle, not just at school but
outside, to afford food. Not every family can afford or have the time to buy groceries.
I wouldn’t be able to relate to this due to the fact that I get sent free food funded by
the school and have the option to eat the free food at school. But unlike me, there are
students who struggle with getting food or getting a school funded choice.”

Sofi M. : “It shows students that the people in charge feel they don’t have to give more
money to the schools. Typical schools that don’t get as much funding have students
that are struggling with food insecurity and poverty. Also, a lot of low-funded schools
have higher percentages of minority students.”