Where Have All the Students Gone?
by Elisabeth Finney
Read or be Shot
by Damir Maltaric
Where Have All the Students Gone?
by Elisabeth Finney
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[Third Prize, "Feature Writing," Toronto Star High School Newspaper Contest, 1998. From the Jarvis Jargon, newspaper of Jarvis Collegiate, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. - ed.]
Three years ago, there was a large group of students that hung out regularly in the courtyard. As with all such groups, it was a type of community in its own right, and the people in this crowd were easily identifiable, popular students. However, the majority of this group of people disappeared from the courtyard two years ago. Not because they graduated or dropped out, but because they all moved to a different school.
This situation is probably not surprising to many. Everyone has had friends change schools or come back after summer break to a Jarvis that is very different from the one they left in June. Students even transfer out of Jarvis in mid-year. Caragh Titherington, a former OAC student at Jarvis, dropped out in October of this year and is presently waiting for the second semester to begin at City Alternative school where she is planning on going. She stated that her reasons for leaving Jarvis were somewhat varied, including feelings that teachers were working against and not with her. But the main reason was academic. "If I didn't change, I wouldn't be able to get into university."
This goes against the popular belief that students leave Jarvis because it is simply a bad school where no one enjoys being. While for some, such as Alessandra Katz, Gr. 10, who is leaving Jarvis next year for a Catholic school, this is the case, it is not so for everyone. Cosima Grunsky, OAC, says that she has considered leaving Jarvis, her reasons having "a lot to do with the fact that there is no support [given] to arts programs, because that's where [she's] going in the future." And Kate Gorsline, OAC, says that she considered leaving "that year that every freaking person left and all my friends went to alternative schools."
So maybe the situation is not as cut and dry as Jarvis simply 'sucking'. Ms. Szczurko, in the guidance office says that at "any school, students leave for a variety of reasons." OAC students, under a particular pressure to achieve 'The Mark' for university admission may find that it is easier to do well at a semestered school or at an institution where not all the courses offered are at an advanced level, such as at Jarvis. Some find themselves bored, having few or no friends, or even missing the friends that they left behind in Gr. 8. Conversely, some factors are completely out of the student's control, such as their family moving away from Toronto. In addition, "it takes a certain type of student to work in a Jarvis schedule with up to 8 exams", says Ms. Szczurko.
She cites the main reason for Jarvis students choosing to attend another school as being academically based: "A realization that you're not doing as well as you can…in conjunction with realizing what the school can do and what it can't do. I think Jarvis provides an academic spectrum, but all schools can't be all things to all people."
As for whether or not Jarvis has an abnormally high percentage of students leaving for other educational institutions, Ms. Szczurcko responds that she doesn't know if the numbers are extraordinary, "or if it just seems like that." She does state however, that there are "lots of options out there" and that in our present society there is a "norm or a trend to change schools. Students are allowed to changes more and lives are different now. Families move and there are other demographic and socio-economic factors involved." Ms. Fricker believes that this trend towards changing school at least once is "our current reality."
Whether or not there actually are a large number of students leaving Jarvis is hard to say. According to Ms. Fricker, there are no specific records kept on how many students leave each year. There are lists of names and the destinations of these individuals when they leave, but no official count is kept. Nor are reasons of departure recorded.
A rough estimate of the numbers, done by Ms. Szczurko, indicates that over the past five years, between 200 and 300 students have left Jarvis; about 20% of the student population. "It's not a huge number. It's a logical number, and quite constant", she says.
In comparison with other schools, these numbers do not appear all that surprising. According to Mr. Nicholson, presently the principal at Eastern Commerce and a former Jarvis teacher, Board wide statistics in 1991 showed that "79% of students in the Toronto Secondary School Board stayed in one place, while 21% attended two or more schools. That means that slightly more than 1 out of every five students" will change schools during their secondary school career.
So if Jarvis is not in as much trouble as commonly thought, why the myth that 'everyone is leaving'?
"At times, the perception of [how many students are leaving] actually depends on how active those students are in the school", says Mr. Nicholson. For example, if only 3 students who happen to be quite heavily involved in extracurricular activities leave the school one year, the perception would be that many students were transferring. However, if 9 relatively inactive members of the student body left the same year, their presence would hardly be missed.
A few years ago, the majority of the football players at Northern Secondary School failed their grade 12 year. Because they were all well-known and popular, Northern got the reputation of being a very difficult school in which few people passed. This was, however, simply due to the fact that the particularly well known students were the ones who failed, while "the percentage over the grade [of people who failed] was just about the same" as it always had been, states Mr. Nicholson.
Most Jarvisites have considered changing schools at least once, and some have moved, but overall the population of Jarvis seems to be quite stable. The number of departures fluctuates every year, as in all schools, but from the available information, the phenomenon is nothing to be overly concerned about. Some students have even come back to Jarvis with a new appreciation of it as a school. Laura Noack, OAC, attended a semestered high school for the first semester last year before attending the Science Centre school. Upon returning to Jarvis this year Laura said, "I would never consider leaving Jarvis after having been to Rushford Collegiate. After being there, Jarvis was like heaven. I didn't realize how good it was."
Read or be Shot
by Damir Maltaric
Meandering through the lively hallways of good old JCI, I can't help but wonder what sounds these ancient walls have heard throughout their innumerable years.
How many whispers did they keep in their cold, stone-like embrace, as the national anthem echoed atop of the shivers of the not-quite-on-time mischievous vagabonds standing in the halls.
Even in the most tiresome days, there always seems to be strange whispers emanating from the ageless hallways, until now.
This year, the walls themselves are being silenced, and deprived of unruly rumors for a half-hour, every day. After a shrieking bell roars like an air raid siren, complete silence is to follow.
Many have stopped and reflected upon the eerie stillness that befalls the school at reading time. But are we really promoting literacy with it?
At first it was but a time to chill out, maybe scan through a good book, maybe take a nap, or just have a walk around the building.
But the increasingly authoritarian activity has been riddled with newfound disciplinary actions to ensure complete obedience by the student body.
We have heard announcements at assemblies and on the P.A. system of new rules to be implemented during reading time: one is discouraged from going to the washroom after the warning siren has blasted; he is to "drop whatever he's doing" and read, is asked not to roam the hallways, is not allowed to take out a pen and write, is to be completely silent, is not allowed to leave the library once reading time has started.
"A teacher on the 1st floor stopped me from going to to go back to class," exclaimed Peter Tran, a Grade 12 student. Is the authoritarian aspect of Reading time getting a little out of hand?
Not to mention the intimidating footsteps of disciplinary enforcers wandering the hallways. The hall-monitor Bill and Mr. Sovran, among others, equipped with walkie-talkies and strict brows, make sure that there are no adventurous stu-dents secretly disobeying the sacred reading time code of conduct.
"I keep expecting Mr. Sovran to walk down the hallway with a basket of propaganda," admitted Isaac, who was too intimidated to publish his last name or grade.
Who could ever foresee that having a pen in your hand could get you into trouble? If illiteracy, or poor literacy, is a problem in today's schools, is shoving a book down a student's throat really a way to solve it?
"They're trying to force us into it too much… a lot of people are just trying to get around it," says Nicole Smith, also from Grade 12.
An anonymous teacher from one of my afternoon classes that's affected by the reading period seems to agree, "Maybe it will, maybe it won't [promote literacy], but the bottom line is that we're losing too much instruction time."
If the goal of the school is promoting literacy, they should embrace students with comfort not authority. What if some students end up associating book reading with an uncomfortable feeling looming over them?
"When I come to think of it, now I find it hard to read unless I'm forced to; before it was leisure," commented Ali Karim. So are we really promoting literacy?
Elbert Ho, a Jarvis senior, disapproves of it as well, "They're forcing us to read; it's not fair, reading time should be a choice."
And when I told a former Jarvis student Kate McDonnell about this new reading policy, her response was a hearty laugh, followed by a brief statement, "It'll never work."
Perhaps a different action is necessary to promote reading. Instead of not allowing students to roam to hallways by ill-enforced threats, how about equipping a few classrooms with sofas, so the students will be comfortable enough to stay still.
The administration can grant students a few minutes before reading time to grab a snack or a drink to prevent sleeping or grumpiness.
And for those scanning over beauty magazine pictures, maybe a teacher can point them to the articles, and clarify their complex content.
Also, a popular demand from the teachers is to increase the reading material available in classrooms, so students can find something they like.
If we are to encourage something as great as reading, we should associate it with comfort and pleasure, instead of the slowly escalating authoritarian system, whose negativity only seems to, by student opinion, further perpetuate poor literacy.
How many whispers did they keep in their cold, stone-like embrace, as the national anthem echoed atop of the shivers of the not-quite-on-time mischievous vagabonds standing in the halls.
Even in the most tiresome days, there always seems to be strange whispers emanating from the ageless hallways, until now.
This year, the walls themselves are being silenced, and deprived of unruly rumors for a half-hour, every day. After a shrieking bell roars like an air raid siren, complete silence is to follow.
Many have stopped and reflected upon the eerie stillness that befalls the school at reading time. But are we really promoting literacy with it?
At first it was but a time to chill out, maybe scan through a good book, maybe take a nap, or just have a walk around the building.
But the increasingly authoritarian activity has been riddled with newfound disciplinary actions to ensure complete obedience by the student body.
We have heard announcements at assemblies and on the P.A. system of new rules to be implemented during reading time: one is discouraged from going to the washroom after the warning siren has blasted; he is to "drop whatever he's doing" and read, is asked not to roam the hallways, is not allowed to take out a pen and write, is to be completely silent, is not allowed to leave the library once reading time has started.
"A teacher on the 1st floor stopped me from going to to go back to class," exclaimed Peter Tran, a Grade 12 student. Is the authoritarian aspect of Reading time getting a little out of hand?
Not to mention the intimidating footsteps of disciplinary enforcers wandering the hallways. The hall-monitor Bill and Mr. Sovran, among others, equipped with walkie-talkies and strict brows, make sure that there are no adventurous stu-dents secretly disobeying the sacred reading time code of conduct.
"I keep expecting Mr. Sovran to walk down the hallway with a basket of propaganda," admitted Isaac, who was too intimidated to publish his last name or grade.
Who could ever foresee that having a pen in your hand could get you into trouble? If illiteracy, or poor literacy, is a problem in today's schools, is shoving a book down a student's throat really a way to solve it?
"They're trying to force us into it too much… a lot of people are just trying to get around it," says Nicole Smith, also from Grade 12.
An anonymous teacher from one of my afternoon classes that's affected by the reading period seems to agree, "Maybe it will, maybe it won't [promote literacy], but the bottom line is that we're losing too much instruction time."
If the goal of the school is promoting literacy, they should embrace students with comfort not authority. What if some students end up associating book reading with an uncomfortable feeling looming over them?
"When I come to think of it, now I find it hard to read unless I'm forced to; before it was leisure," commented Ali Karim. So are we really promoting literacy?
Elbert Ho, a Jarvis senior, disapproves of it as well, "They're forcing us to read; it's not fair, reading time should be a choice."
And when I told a former Jarvis student Kate McDonnell about this new reading policy, her response was a hearty laugh, followed by a brief statement, "It'll never work."
Perhaps a different action is necessary to promote reading. Instead of not allowing students to roam to hallways by ill-enforced threats, how about equipping a few classrooms with sofas, so the students will be comfortable enough to stay still.
The administration can grant students a few minutes before reading time to grab a snack or a drink to prevent sleeping or grumpiness.
And for those scanning over beauty magazine pictures, maybe a teacher can point them to the articles, and clarify their complex content.
Also, a popular demand from the teachers is to increase the reading material available in classrooms, so students can find something they like.
If we are to encourage something as great as reading, we should associate it with comfort and pleasure, instead of the slowly escalating authoritarian system, whose negativity only seems to, by student opinion, further perpetuate poor literacy.
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