Corners of my Mind

How do students between the ages of 10 and 15 feel about school?

When I first received the assignment of interviewing a student between the age of 10 and 15, I began to wonder what I could do to complete the project but also enjoy it. My friend Tiffany and I then came up with the idea of teaming up and interviewing a group of students to receive a general consensus. So we got together on Wednesday September 10^th, 2008 and set off on our journey to find the answers that we sought after. As we walked to the nearest middle school we could find, we came across a group of middle school children waiting for a bus at the bus stop. We approached the children and asked if they wanted to participate in an interview and they all accepted the proposition enthusiastically. After the formal introductions were made, I pulled out the good ol’ Nikon camera and began to record our interview with Tiffany headlining the questions. The group of children we interviewed attended school at Winston Middle School, and the group of 8^th grade students included 14yr old Keith Palmer, 14yr old Kemal Miller, 14yr old Briana Johnson , 14 yr old Milan Blackwell, 12yr old Anika Johnson, 14 Dominique Bronson, and 13yr old Daisha Cobb. In the interest of time and space consumption, (referring to the paper we had to type) we asked the group the questions that we thought might invoke the most conversation and difference among answers. When Tiffany posed the question do you plan on graduating, we received almost arrogant yeses from the children, which showed us that not all inner-city Baltimore children have pessimistic views about graduating. Other questions were posed like “What are your favorite classes and least favorite classes?” and we heard answers like “Gym and Language Arts” as favorites and “Math” as least favorite synonymously come from the children. All in all we found that some students, particularly these students, do indeed feel like they have hope and will succeed, now, and in the future.