After spring break, everyone is ready for summer vacation. It’s the time of year when everyone is pushing each other’s buttons and exhausted from the work, but most importantly, it’s a time of reflection.
Looking back at the main events of this year, it’s clear to see that there is room for enhancement. After hearing from students and faculty, people feel very strongly about things that need to be refined.
One of the biggest concerns from students this year is the lack of visibility for school events.
“The school needs to improve on focusing on more sports that aren’t talked about as much, such as archery, golf, swimming, or dance; instead of focusing on only basketball and football,” Kate Venneman (12) said.
This would help create a more inclusive environment for students and overall get people involved in supporting Highlands. Many students have also expressed concerns about the lack of effective advertising for other school events.
Important announcements often go unnoticed because not all classes watch the daily school announcements. School’s use of posters has been keeping students up to date. Visual reminders like these are an easy and effective way to spread the word and support peers.
“Posters being shown in L.E.G.A.C.Y have been helping keep me updated on what is going on around the school and gives me the opportunity to go and support the sports teams,” Venneman said.
This year, a large change/improvement is our new ‘flex time’ schedule. L.E.G.A.C.Y is a new system introduced to Highlands students and teachers this year. With the main goal of increasing the intellectual and emotional intelligence of students, making improvements that address everyone’s needs is a vital task.
The process of change involves careful planning from Highlands faculty leaders, such as Assistant Principal, Jennifer Nash.
“Any policy changes that we make to the school in general has to go through a lot. Nothing that we are changing is ever just like we’re just going to do it. It gets fed through a lot of different channels to always make sure that the end goal is going to be what’s best for students and their learning,” Assistant Principal Jennifer Nash said.
With this new schedule, it has shown to improve grades and overall improve the attitudes of students. Every Wednesday and Thursday, students report back to their homerooms and discuss mandatory subjects such as mental health, steps after graduation, and leadership skills.
Many students find that ‘L.E.G.A.C.Y.’ can also be used as a mental break throughout their day.
“School is so much more fun this year and I’m just enjoying my days in L.E.G.A.C.Y. so much more,” Somfe Nzekwu (12) said.
The school’s leadership has dedicated considerable thought and effort to enhancing the L.E.G.A.C.Y. program, aiming to foster a sense of community and show Highlands students that school can be both meaningful and enjoyable while also teaching and reminding them of the importance of things such as empathy and communication.
“As a school, a big push has been L.E.G.A.C.Y. this year. I’ve been wanting to create a community in our school, so kids realize it’s okay to have fun at school and you have people here that really care about you,” Nash said.
In addition to the focus on L.E.G.A.C.Y., this school year has brought about several other changes aimed at improving the student experience, including the introduction of completely new classes which comes as a challenge to the teachers. Every year is different from the previous, things are constantly changing and improving.
“For me, the biggest change has been the introduction of the regular stats class, because it has never existed here in school before,” Statistics teacher Stacey Behrensmeyer said.
Many students have responded positively to the new statistics course, finding value in its practical and intellectual challenges. The new regular statistics class offers practical applications and challenges them to think critically in ways that weren’t previously addressed in other math courses.
“I think stats has a fit and need for students that wasn’t there before to do some really high-level thinking in math that’s useful, and the students can also find some ways to use this in a lot of different fields,” Behrensmeyer said.
