Historically, school has a negative connotation among students.
They feel this way for a variety of reasons — school is boring, too early, too much work or irrelevant.
Sophomore Preslee Taylor explained that negative emotions can emerge from students attempting to do too much.
“Oftentimes, kids are so caught up with all that they are involved with like clubs, sports, honors classes, AP classes, and it starts to pile up and become very stressful,” Taylor said. “I’ve experienced it. It makes you unmotivated to want to come to school.”
One common issue students have with school is how phones are handled.
Sophomore Gloriana Howard feels that phones are a distraction to students.
“I think (phones) are a distraction,” she said. “People need to be focused, so I understand why teachers (don’t want) phones out.”
However, Taylor thinks that phones are actually helpful, especially for communication.
“I’ve seen so many cases where a student will get an emergency call or they need to respond to their coaches or their parents,” she said. “But some teachers will make you put up your phones so you can’t respond right then which can cause some problems.”
One reason Howard likes Chapman is because of the positive relationships she has with teachers and students.
“Mr. Davis is very involved with the students, (and) you can tell that the staff really cares,” Howard said. “The education is good, the social aspect (isn’t something) I’ve struggled with at all, and it’s generally a more positive experience than other schools I’ve been at.”
There’s also an argument to be made that having class early in the morning is harmful, but freshman Mark Andriychuk thinks that it can help prepare students for the day.
“If you (have an) early job or need to be somewhere early you (are in) the mindset of having to wake up early,” Andriychuk said.
Assistant Principal and math teacher Carrie Forrest said that it is important for students to learn to do things they don’t like to do.
“It’s like filling up my car with gas,” she said. “I don’t like doing it, but I understand I have to do it because it’s important for me to get from point A to point B. School (works) the same way; if (you) don’t take the time to learn because (you) don’t enjoy it, (you can’t) get from point A to point B.”
But Forrest knows that most students won’t do this without a little help from the school.
“We’ve got to make it where we’re building relationships, putting students in the right classes that benefit their goals,” Forrest said. “If a student doesn’t know their end goal, it’s really hard for us to do that, but when a kid (has a) general idea of what they want to do with their life, we can better direct them, and by doing that, (we can) help make school a more enjoyable experience.”
