Students, Find Your Drive and Speak Up

Written By Nakiya Norman

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (Martin Luther King Jr.) We the students are demanding our education. I can no longer stand on the sidelines being forced to keep my mouth shut as the school crumbles around me.

On Tuesday, May 14, 2019, my friend D'Asia James and I were in the auditorium having a discussion about our African-American history class, which mind you only counts as an elective, but that’s another issue for a later date. During this conversation Mrs. Rudisill [Assistant Principal in the 9/10 high school building] had been passing by when she overheard us talking and backed up to where we were sitting. She then said, “ Sounds like you guys are having a pretty heated debate.” D’Asia and I gave her the basis of our conversation and our opinions.

She then suggested the idea of having an African-American literature class or even a class that was taught about different cultures. We then said that seemed like a good idea. Keep this in mind because it holds significance later in the story. She then told us that there was a school board meeting that night and that we should attend and share our ideas because the school board members would love to hear them. We shared with her that we already had the intention of going to the meeting.

At the school board meeting started, Mrs. Rudisill approached my friends D’Asia James, Denyjah Wilson, and me. Remember earlier when I told you to remember the idea Mrs. Rudisill presented to us? Well, she came over and told us that she suggested that very idea to Mr. Chenger [9/10 high school Principal] as our own. She then asked what we were going to be speaking about, but because the things I wanted to say went against and challenged the administrators, I didn’t want to give her information, so I gave her a fake topic.

She asked us to step in the hallway and give her some concerns that we wanted to talk about with Mr. Chenger. I decided I didn’t want to go because I felt the conversation wasn’t really geared towards helping us, but more towards trying to shut us down before we became a concern. But D’Asia and Denyjah did decide to go and talk to her. When I finally decide to go out and see what they came up with, the list had topics such as recycling, CPM curriculum, and Pre-AP classes being eliminated and not being offered in the 11/12 building. Mrs. Rudisill then told us she would talk to Mr. Chenger and have him come speak with us to set up a time that would be appropriate for us to meet. When Mr. Chenger discussed our concerns we decided we would have a meeting on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, at 1:30pm. [Nakiya and D'Asia spoke during public comment at the board meeting that evening. See Nakiya's comments in her earlier blog post.]

On Wednesday, May 15, 2019, at the beginning of our 7th period class, D’Asia and I were walking to the library for psychology when Mrs. Rudisill stopped us and told us to ask our teacher for a pass to  meet her in the office. We went to check in with our 7th period teacher and we weren’t able to go right away because of a project we needed to work on. A little later into the period our teacher received a call requesting that we come to the principal’s office.

We went to meet Mrs. Rudisill in her office and she explained that Mr. Chenger wasn’t able to meet with us because he had some Keystone related issues to handle. She then asked us to give her at least three topics to put on the agenda for our meeting with him the next day at the same time. We gave her three topics pertaining to CPM curriculum, Pre-AP classes being eliminated and not offered in the 11/12 building and the concern with split lunches. Mrs. Rudisill then said she wanted to start off by saying that she heard us both loud and clear yesterday when we said we felt unheard and the students here aren’t listened to. She was there to tell us that’s wrong and not true at all. She said, "we give you guys enough opportunities to come and speak with us about any questions or concerns you may have. We are always here in our offices anytime we are needed."

She then went on to say that she would be able to answer any questions we had on some of those topics and asked what did we want to discuss first. We picked the Pre-AP class elimination topic. I explained to her that it didn’t make any sense to eliminate the Pre-AP classes because some people found that being in that class was a good-skill level for them; I explained that I am one of those students. She told D’Asia and I that Pre-AP classes were meant for the middle school students to get them thinking about signing up for AP classes when they got to high school. We disagreed with her and explained our points of view. [Read about Pre-AP from the college board, and about students' experience with pre-AP at CASD.]

We then moved to the topic of CPM curriculum. We explained that not everybody can work in a team environment when it comes to math. We gave scenarios such as, when we start class we are given a warm up or problem to solve and told to figure it out with our teammates. Sometimes the teammates you are sitting with don’t know what to do either so you are stuck staring at each other with no clue where to begin. Mrs. Rudisill then told us they have graphs and data that show how having the CPM curriculum in effect has proven to be way more effective than any other approach to math. 

We explained to her how last school year in my Algebra 1 class that we didn’t have a teacher for over 3-4 months due to our original teacher quitting at the beginning of the year. We were handed packets and papers everyday that were counted as a grade for completed work not accuracy. Mrs. Rudisill didn’t really acknowledge that comment; she moved towards the fact that maybe the teachers aren’t doing their job if we don’t understand. She asked us if they were doing the 7-10 minutes of explaining the lesson and then giving us the work. [See what another student wrote about CPM.]

The meeting started taking a heated sharp turn and D’Asia and I became enraged being told that our feelings and opinions were wrong, so I made an excuse to get us out of there. Before we left she told us that Mr. Chenger would continue this conversation with us the next day & that she would get us those graphs and research. 

On Tuesday, May 28, 2019, during my sixth period I was called down to the office by Mr. Chenger. He wanted to catch up on concerns that I had spoken about with Mrs. Rudisill previously. When I came in he first said to me, “I just wanted to touch base with you. I’m sorry I didn’t meet with you sooner Keystone testing had me tied up. “ I told him it was fine and I understood because it was hectic for me as well.

He asked me what I what my concerns were and I told him the top three which were, Pre-AP classes being removed & not offered in the 11/12 building, CPM Curriculum & the split lunches. We started off with the Pre-AP classes & he explained to me that they were really used to help prepare middle school students for selecting AP classes. When I explained to him that they should be looked at as skill levels & the amount of work a student can handle, I also backed that point of by expanding that a Pre-AP class was the level I needed to be at. He then told me that in my following year of high school, which is my junior year, I should pick AP classes since I was in a Pre-AP class I would be prepared.

Sitting there being told that I should be prepared for something that I’m clearly telling you I’m not should be taken into consideration; I’m sure you should try and understand what my struggle is or why I feel that way rather than telling me that’s not how it works.

The next part of our conversation was more about the CPM curriculum and how most students aren’t benefiting from it. I explained to Mr. Chenger what my concerns were, and I had my own personal experience with CPM and how it hindered my performance on the Keystones, mainly because I was not prepared. But this preparation I needed to pass was supposed to be taught by a teacher who quit the first week of school. After I finished telling my story he apologized for that but didn’t address the concern I had with that. He moved on to saying that there was research done that proved how much better off our students are with the CPM curriculum and went on to say that Collegeboard endorses our CPM program and said Collegeboard is a big thing and the fact that they endorse our program must say something. 

Throughout the conversation I did feel at ease because Mr. Chenger is someone who knows how to talk to you and make it seem that what you’re saying is important when you feel it isn’t. But that doesn’t mean I can give in and it certainly doesn’t mean I will. 

In both meetings with  Mr. Chenger and the previous meeting with Mrs. Rudisill, both tried to ask or suggest that maybe the teachers weren’t doing their job and that they’ve had training to help them understand what we as the students need. The truth is we have amazing teachers at this school; teachers who care about us and help students find that passion inside them. So many of them are leaving for this exact reason.

We’ve been oppressed by those in higher power for too long and we’ve let them run our school and we students into the ground. We can no longer stand for it. We can’t be silenced when the only way to get our education is to make sure our voice is heard. Sitting around won’t get us our freedom back we must take charge and demand to have it back. The secrets behind this big production are no longer in the dark. People now see what it really is.

Those in higher power don’t listen to us, and they don’t care enough to ask how we feel. The only way to make a difference or start a change is to speak up. I’m not afraid and I hope the rest of you aren’t either. Change starts in the heart; all you have to do is find your drive.

Editor's note: We checked with Nakiya and she was not provided with the charts and graphs that show the effectiveness of the CPM curriculum. These also were not provided at the parent math night earlier this year that one of our leaders attended, nor was an endorsement by CollegeBoard mentioned at that session.