revolution

Bridging the gapSpecial edition

2 February 11, 2009 special edition

Freedom has 2151 stu-dents enrolled.

The student body is 52 percent male and 48 percent female.

Racial profi le of Free-dom; White, Hispanic, Black, Multiracical, Asian then Indian.

The freshman class is the largest with 676 students.

Students transfer to vocational education centerCareer center aides development of on-the-job skills

Achievement may be thought of as grade point averages, class ranks, standardized test scores, or graduation rates. But for stu-dents who may not excel academically, there are options that diff er from a traditional high school experience and are available to help such students reach success.

At Bowers/Whitley Career Center, suc-cess is measured on how well students can develop a vocational skill. According to Bowers/Whitley Principal Anthony Colucci, students there can avoid fl unking out by learning a career in a hands-on method.

“The program is for students that are in high school that aren’t doing too well. They’re either failing their classes, they’ve got low GPAs, or they’re overage. It doesn’t look like they’re going to make it at a traditional high school because they can’t get the credits and they don’t have a high enough Grade Point Average [GPA],” Colucci said.

However, Colucci says that not every failing high school student is allowed to come to Bowers/Whitley.

“When you come to Bowers-Whitley, you have to fi ll out an application. Our committ ee looks at the application, and we decide whether or not you are safe to come here. We don’t take kids that are thugs and criminals, and kids that have bad histories of violence,” Colucci said, “If somebody comes here and they’re a dangerous person then they could hurt somebody because they can’t handle their emotions.”

Freedom off ers vocational opportunities such as culinary arts. According to Chef Gerald DuBois, a vocational education is an important option for any high school student.

“A vocational skill is highly marketable, and I recommend it to any high school stu-dent. Everybody should learn a vocational skill, especially kids who aren’t planning on going to college,” DuBois said, “If they

are going to college, most will end up in a vocational industry any way.”

Students at Bowers/Whitley still have to perform academically, but academic achievement at the vocational school is measured very diff erently.

“The thing that makes it special for the academic part is that we do all these classes, all the academics, in one room.

“Every kid works on a computer but they work on their level. Usually when kids can’t keep up at a regular high school, kids take an F. We don’t want kids to fail. So we give every kid individualized work.

“It’s at their level, but it’s on a computer,” Colucci said. “There’s no frustration, so nobody gets upset. And then the computer makes it harder every time.”

Classes at Bowers/Whitley are two and a half hours long and there are only two classes a day, which Colucci believes is a benefi t for the students.

“We have to have that because you can’t be working on a car and then in 50 minutes the bell rings and you have to leave,” Co-lucci said. “Or if you’re cooking a meal for the school restaurant you can’t stop in the middle of a meal because it’s time to go.”

Upon the mastery of a vocational skill and graduation from Bowers/Whitley, students can either become certifi ed and go straight into the work fi eld, or they can continue their education for free.

“This is a beautiful program because what happens when you graduate from Bowers/Whitley is you get a regular high school diploma. So there’s no negativity.

“The other thing that makes it worth-while is we’ve got grant money for kids who graduate,” Colucci said. “You fi ll out one form, and your college is free. Every kid that comes to Bowers/Whitley gets two years of paid college to HCC, including the cost of text books.”

DuBois thinks that his culinary students are also perfectly prepared to go into the culinary industry aft er high school.

“I have placed students in the industry right aft er graduation,” DuBois said. “We really do prepare the students from begin-ning to end and in every aspect. “Marketing, business skills, advertising, organization, and hygiene- we teach all that stuff because everything goes along with a culinary edu-cation. We cover a lot of stuff that college would teach.”

Overall, Colucci says their success rate is extremely high. Bowers/Whitley has not had one fi ght in fi ve years, the att endance rate is at 90 percent.

“We’ve done extremely well and we’ve graduated 98 percent of the senior class,” Colucci said.

“Our graduation rate is high, that’s why we have money to pay for our students’ college.”

entertainment editorChandler Keenan

The Bowers-Whitley Career Center offers ten vocational fi elds of study, including administrative assistance, automotive mechanics, construction, culinary arts, customer service, early childhood, fashion marketing, interior design, nursing, and web design. It was built at 13609 N 22nd St.

Courtesy of: School Distrcit of Hillsborough County

Administration plans to increase minorities in high-level classesstaff writer

Karianne Rivera

Freedom high school is a diverse school fi lled with students from diff erent backgrounds and cultures. Students come from Lutz, Tampa Palms, New Tampa, University Area, and even as far as Wesley Chapel and Land O’ Lakes. Despite all of the diversity there still is not equal repre-sentation in classes.

There is an economic achievement gap in classes; students who are from lower income families are least represented in AP and honors class.

“I think there is a huge socio-economic gap,” principal Chris Farkas said, “There is a direct correlation between and education and wealth. These students who are least represented typically have lower gradua-

tion rates, lower GPAs, lower FCAT scores and lower participation in AP and honors classes.”

The statistics also show that students from lower income areas are less involved in AP classes. One third of students are on free or reduced lunch, about 600 students. Out of those 600 students, only 135 are in AP classes.

“It’s not that they don’t have the ability to take these classes,” Farkas said. “It’s that they haven’t been pushed.

“A lot of these kids who have high FCAT levels aren’t in higher classes, even though their scores show they have the potential for that.”

Currently, there are 1,053 students in AP classes. 942 of these students live in the Lutz, New Tampa, or Tampa Palms. There are 29 people from the University Area are

in high-level classes. Only fi ve percent of all African-Ameri-

can students are taking higher-level classes. Eleven percent of Hispanics are in high-level classes.

Freedom is ranked 15th out of 27 high schools in Hillsborough County for highest graduation rates.

Ninety percent of Caucasian and 100 percent of Asians graduate, only 76 percent of Hispanics and 66 percent of African-Americans graduate.

“Teachers, administration, and guid-ance are playing a larger role in ensuring that kids are working at their highest po-tential,” Farkas said.

“Mr. Alexander is working hard to re-cruit more minorities to AP programs.”

However, Farkas also makes it clear that this is about equality, not reverse discrimi-

nation. “A lot of people

don’t want to do anything about the problem because they think it is about promoting minorities just because they are minorities, but it’s not,” he said.

“ I t ’s a b o u t equality, that ev-ery student deserves the same opportunity to learn regardless of where they come from”.

RACIAL PROFILE OF FREEDOM

2005 VS 2009

HISPANIC

MULTIRACIAL

WHITE

BLACK

HISPANIC

MULTIRACIALINDIAN

ASIAN

52%

1%3%4%

22%

18%

2005

STAGGERING STATISTICS: Freedom’s Achievement Demographic

revolutionspecial edition 3

49 percent of the stu-dent body is White.

Five percent of Af-rican Americans are enrolled in high-level classes.

204 students in 9th, 10th and 11th were retained after the 2007-2008 year.

In 2005, 263 students were retained.

The male and female psyches react dif-ferently to diff erent subjects or issues. How-ever, the typical stereotype “girls are bett er at English and boys are bett er at math and science” may be an oversimplifi cation.

Gender itself may not be the sole reason for the diff ering achievements of boys and girls, it may be the learning environment that boys and girls are exposed to such as the public school system that integrates both sexes into all classes and courses.

Chemistry teacher James Aulisio says same-sex separation for education may be benefi cial. Aulisio att ended Scranton Uni-versity, an all-male Jesuit College, for four years.

“[Gender divide] de-pends on the class,” Aulisio said. “On the rare occasion that one of my courses did contain a girl, it just dis-tracted the professor and didn’t raise the education level.”

Aulisio says these same-gender classes, depending on the course, improved his education.

However, he says the presence of female class-mates would not have made a diff erence in courses like science or math.

As a teacher, Aulisio says he would like to experiment within the public school system by making some courses available in a same-sex environment to see if overall class and exam grades would improve, possibly leading to new public education techniques.

“Too much boy-girl and girl-boy at-tention occurs in a mixed environment,” Aulisio said. “And causes a dampened learning level.”

He says same-sex courses would result in bett er performance, more honesty, and openness for teachers and students.

Aulisio also thinks that the level of ev-eryday distraction would be decreased by separating boys and girls, because teenagers are easily sidetracked by the opposite sex.

Guidance counselor Harley Shaw has a different opinion towards same-sex schooling.

“I have mixed feelings,” Shaw said. “Its not really realistic to be in a same- sex environment, but it depends on the situ-

ation.”Shaw agrees with the

thought that there is a level of distraction between boys and girls in mixed schooling situations.

“Boys cause more of a distraction and girls aren’t as easily distracted,” Shaw said.

Shaw also thinks that there may be some subjects where separation may be benefi cial, such as for some girls’ math, and some boys’ English.

All stereotypes aside, only the student can deter-mine how much eff ort is put

into school achievement and which subjects hold higher priority.

While gender may play a role in aca-demic success, overcoming these distrac-tions is probably even a greater lesson in itself than some topics presented in the classroom atmosphere.

Gender separation fosters better performancestaff writer

Jessica Brown

By the Num

bers: National SAT

Scores

“

”> James Aulisio

On the rare oc-casion that one

of my courses did contain a girl, it just distracted

the professor and didn’t raise the

education level.

Achievement gap attributed to racial barriersMinorities face cultural, language hurdles

In the 2007-2008 school year 74 percent of the African American

school population scored below a three on FCAT reading, while 33 percent of Cau-

casian students scored below a three.There is less variance in graduation rates

than in FCAT scores. In the 2006-2007 school year, 90.9 percent of the Caucasian students graduated, whereas 77.6 percent of African

Americans graduated and 80.7 percent of Hispanics graduated.

The achievement gap has failed to close despite nationwide efforts to improve minority achievement. For years there has been growth in this gap. Minority groups other than Asians and lower socioeconomic groups tend to have lower achievement rates than Caucasians.

English teacher Crystal Dukes feels race shouldn’t aff ect achievement, but sometimes race-dependant expectations are set and thus goals and achievement are sometimes dependent on race.

“It’s important to know that the value you have for education depends on your upbringing and background, and is not necessarily based on race,” Dukes said.

Senior Jose Rosa grew up in Puerto Rico. He moved to Florida in sixth grade.

Rosa says while his fi rst year here was a challenge, after improving his English he was able to succeed. He feels those who complain about language barriers and other issues simply aren’t trying hard enough.

“Schools should ask for more from their

students. I am unhappy to see that many Hispanics aren’t achieving much, especially Puerto Ricans, despite being from a com-monwealth of the United States, and thus off ered many of the same opportunities,” Rosa said.

Junior Anthony Moore says schools focus a lot on testing, and that by doing so, they may have trouble connecting with students and helping them achieve.

“To me, achievement is accomplishing something I worked really hard for,” he said. “Oft entimes if you grade in FCAT is bad you can’t get through school, which is stupid because it can discourage intelligent students who simply are bad with tests.”

Students may see achievement as some-thing schools don’t measure.

“Achieving is doing something you can be proud of,” senior Heidy Pagan said.

NJROTC Chief Nieuwendam feels as long students study hard, race shouldn’t matt er in achievement.

“The gap stems from cultural upbring-ing. Some of the minorities have not de-veloped as strong work ethic, educational

upbringing, and discipline. Diff erent factors may vary coming from other countries,” he said.

Junior Jessica Gomez says sometimes assumptions that minorities will fail hinder their performance.

“Race affects achievement a little bit because there are people who are just not taught to want to achieve more,” she said.“It’s about how you’re brought up. Also sometimes people assume things because you’re a minority. They make stereotypes that sometimes come in the way of giving minorities opportunities,” Gomez said.

There are many ideas as to how to solve the achievement gap.

Nieuwendam supports experiential learning such as mandatory abroad summer programs and an emphasis on reading and encouraging students to achieve.

Dukes says that one thing is sure, the gap must be closed.

“At some point we have to make changes as students, parents, and teachers. We must fi gure out the exact problem to get to the solution.” >> Statistics taken from fl doe.org

staff writerGabrielle Vaz

Source: manhatt an-institute.org

Average Male SAT Score:

Average Female Score:

Average Male Math SAT Score:

Average Female Math SAT Score:

Average Male Reading SAT Score:

Average Female Reading SAT Score:

Male Graduation Rates:

Female Graduation Rates:

The two unisex schools in Hillsborough County are Jesuit High School for boys and Academy of the Holy Names for girls.

1174

605

569

65%

560

559

72%

1119

RACIAL PROFILE OF FREEDOM

2005 VS 2009

WHITE

BLACK

HISPANIC

MULTIRACIAL

ASIAN

INDIAN

WHITE

MULTIRACIALINDIAN

ASIAN

49%

20%

21%

6%3% 1%

52%

1%4%

2005

2009

4special edition

Drive 15 minutes down Bruce B. Downs, turn right on Busch Blvd., continue for another fi ve minutes, and the most impoverished area in the county will appear on the left . A mere 20 minutes away from the affl uent New Tampa community lies Sulphur Springs.

In Sulphur Springs, 43 percent of the 6,308 residents live in poverty compared to 13 percent county-wide, according to the U.S. Census 2000.

Senior Katie Prosser volunteers in Sulphur Springs every Thursday with a program called PCAT (Parents and Children Advance Together). She works for an hour with a second grader named Reina, helping her learn how to read.

“[Reina]’s seven years old and really smart and sweet. Everybody there likes her because she’s so friendly.”

In July, Prosser heard about the situation in Sulphur Springs through her church and decided to do what she could to help.

“I was shocked to fi nd out there’s such a disadvantaged neighborhood 20 minutes from Tampa Palms. The kids in that neighborhood [Sulphur Springs] were born in that situation, and don’t deserve those circumstances. I’m fortunate enough to be able to help.”

As reported by the Hillsborough County School District (as of 9/22/07), approximately 77 percent of the children att ending Sulphur Springs Elementary School (a grade F school), the only walk-up school in the county (i.e. no buses), are African American, 14 percent are Hispanic, and the remainder are Asian (.14 percent), Multi-Racial (4.65 percent) and White (4.37 percent). Ninety percent of all students are economically disadvantaged (96 percent of students are on free or reduced fare lunch).

PCAT creator Christene Worley decided to leave a steady job to make a diff erence in these kids’ lives.

“A couple of kids from this community [Sulphur Springs] came to my old church. Some were in the fourth and fi ft h grade and had trouble reading. That upset me and was unacceptable. The next few months I prayed a lot until God directed me to help His children get an education so they could get out of poverty.

“So I left marketing. I talked to the Hillsborough County School Board and got approval for the project. It considerably changed my life,” she said.

In this phonetics-based reading program, children get one-on-one att ention from their own personal tutor, all of whom are volunteers.

“You’re assigned to one kid and you really get to develop an older sibling-type relationship,” Prosser said. “I can already see the progress in the kids’ reading levels,

and their self-confi dence is really improving.”

Prosser isn’t the only one to notice the practicality of this type of tutoring.

“That’s why [PCAT]’s so successful; the kids are gett ing personalized, individualized att ention from a tutor,” Worley said.

Positive att ention for the children is a large part of the program. Every day when PCAT is over, the adults and tutors make the kids say ‘I am special’

aloud. “They’re gett ing att ention they don’t

get at school or at home,” Sulphur Springs Elementary reading director Mary Bellamy said.

“A lot of kids today aren’t gett ing the phonetics aspect of their reading education,” she said. “When I was a child, I wasn’t poor, but I did have reading diffi culties. The Peace Corps and other volunteer organizations came into the neighborhood and tutored me and the

other children. This gave me the desire to do bett er.”

Studies show that grade level literacy by age eight is highly correlated to success in high school, while the inability to read is highly correlated to a host of poor outcomes as a teen and adult such as school drop out, juvenile delinquency, teen pregnancies and unemployment.

Only 24 percent of Sulfur Springs adults have a high school diploma and only 40 percent of children at Sulphur Springs Elementary School are reading at or above grade level.

“I think that because a lot of the kids don’t have good relationships around them or people to support them, it’s harder for them to get the same opportunities as other kids,” Prosser said.

The consensus among those working to improve the statistics of Sulphur Springs is that education and a loving, caring environment are the most important factors to improve the quality of life for these kids.

“Absolutely. Education is the main way to get out of poverty,” Worley said. “Yes, defi nitely I believe that how a child is raised aff ects their future achievement.”

Bellamy agrees that the experiences children are exposed to will aff ect them in the future.

“This makes a tremendous diff erence and leads to greater things in life. These children will be greatly infl uenced by this experience. The fact that tutors are with them and show they care, the kids will look back on that and remember,” Bellamy said.

PCAT is open Monday through Thursday from two to six p.m. to kids in the fi rst or second grade at Sulphur Springs Elementary that are reading below the desired reading level. Unfortunately, PCAT can only help a certain number of children a year.

“They’re behind in school. Hopefully, what they do here will transfer over,” Bellamy said.

PCAT is a popular program that’s hard to get into.

“I have to turn children away,” Worley said, “but I do believe I’m making a signifi cant diff erence in these kids’ lives. Children in the program go up anywhere between 5-18 reading levels in one school year.”

Prosser feels the program will help many students achieve success in their future, though she holds concerns about the tough road ahead of them.

“Hopefully, this will have given them a bett er shot at succeeding in school, but the drop-out rate is high, and they’re in a very tough situation.”

Sulphur Springs starts new tutoring programstaff writer

Erin Cook

E. Cook/revolution

Senior Katie Prosser works with second grader Reina at the PCAT program. Each student gets a per-sonal tutor to help them with their schoolwork.

Student volunteers tutor less fortunate children

”

“The kids were born in that situ-

ation, and don’t deserve those

circumstances. I’m fortunate enough to be able to help.> Christene Worley

168 Freshman failed Algebra 1.

In 2005 the entering Freshman class had 748 students. Now in their graduation year they have 454.

49 percent of the stu-dent body is enrolled in high-level classes.

In 2005 there were 2113 students.

All art by Annie Horneland