THE GRADUATES’ VIEWPOINTS : Sizing Up the Schools

LOCKE HIGH SCHOOL

Tiffany Meador, 18, began high school on the Westside but transferred to her home school in South-Central Los Angeles because of family problems. Patricia Ramos, 18, came to Locke after being kicked out of her neighborhood high school.

Both have been accepted to colleges and are awaiting word on financial aid.

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TIFFANY MEADOR: I left Hamilton High School in the middle of the 11th grade. I was getting Cs instead of my usual A’s and Bs. Too many people were living in the house. I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t write essays.

I was roller coasting through life at the time. When I first started high school, I wanted to learn. But when my situation at home developed, I asked myself “What’s the use of learning? I’m going to end up like them anyway.”

My attitude changed (at Locke). But having teachers who actually realize what we have to go through, that would help our education. All the kids in this school, we live in the same neighborhood, we hear the same gunshots, we hear the same helicopter flying over.

If a teacher sees that someone has been absent two or three days, they should ask what’s wrong, instead of saying smart comments like “If you were here, you would have had gotten that assignment and I wouldn’t have to repeat myself.”

What people don’t realize though, is that the worse students feel, the less they learn. One negative comment last year enlightened me.

When I came to Locke and wrote my first essay, my teacher accused me of plagiarism. You know, I don’t have much pride in anything, but when it comes to my writing I will do anything to defend what is mine. My writing comes from inside me.

I confronted him. He told me to write it over and turn in another essay. I told him, “I will write it in front of your face.” I came in on a Saturday morning and wrote a new essay. He read it and he was shocked. It was about Clinton’s stand on immigration. He apologized and gave me extra credit.

In the end it made me feel good that something I wrote was so good that my teacher called me a plagiarist. I was that good to be called a plagiarist.

Teachers need to find ways to help teach the students who look like they don’t want to be taught. People who do want to be taught are the easy ones.

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PATRICIA RAMOS: I got kicked out of Fremont High on the first day of school for getting in a fight with rival gang girls. It all began in the seventh grade, when I started getting involved in gangs.

You know, we used to fight and now I don’t even know why--for a street and name that doesn’t even belong to us?

But even though I used to get in fights, I had good grades.

It’s true what Tiffany said. Teachers don’t understand how we live. Maybe if they knew our family environment, our community environment, they would understand us more and could help us more.

I wish they understood my lifestyle. I clean, cook, study. I don’t really go out. On Saturdays I work at McDonald’s. I take care of my brothers. It’s a lot of responsibility.

The best thing in my education was the teachers who gave me confidence.

Mr. Mandell, he’s the only one here who knows what my life is really like. When he sees me mad or depressed he will sit me down and talk to me about what’s wrong. And I will tell him. When my brother was being treated real bad at school because he’s a special education student, Mr. Mandell gave me a phone number for someone who is now helping.

Now he’s putting me in contact with someone who is helping me find a job so I can at least pay for some of my books for college.

I would like to tell all the adults to really listen to the students. Listen to what we want because it’s our education and we should be able to express ourselves and say what our needs are. Attention: That is one thing we need.

We are not getting the attention or the education to be prepared for life, especially in this community, where violence and gangs happen a lot in our lives.