kids

wakilng in
the halway

Locker Probloms?

The janitors rounded the last hallway in the school with a

clipboard in hand. The paper recorded the exact number of
lockers in the school: 746.
This is a problem, Xavier Nelson said. We are 54 short of
what we need. How can that be?
The 289 students in the incoming freshman class were
the answer to his question. The class of 2018 will enter
Sunflower High School as the largest ever. The freshman
teacher likeing someones project.
class will be 111 more students than the Class of 2017,
the closest in size currently enrolled.
Principal Alexander Vincent joined Nelson in wondering,
How can this be?
We have seem demographic bubbles before where we
have 20 or 30 more students that the previous year, Vincent said. This is unprecedented though.
The needed improvements to the school are many. Mobile
classrooms will be parked on east side of the school for
overflow classes, mostly language arts. Lockers have been
installed over the top of previous wall murals painted by
students giving a report students. The school also ordered extra cafeteria trays,
tables and trash cans for the larger lunch periods.
on a project.
enrolling for school.
I mean, I love the freshmen, junior Carter Morris said. My
A project that look realy cool.
little sister is a freshman. But this is just too much change.
Its too many people. We are going to feel like sardines in
this place.
At freshman orientation Aug. 27 freshman said that they
had already been reading angry social media posts from
upperclassmen about the class of 2018. While many
students refused comment for fear of retaliation by upperWhen senior Grace Carson said that she didnt have enough
interested and four said they would declare it as their college
classmen, freshman Patricia Allen said she understands
patience to become a teacher, she wasnt talking about
major.
some of the anger.
the patience it takes to write a story about a turtle with her
The final step in the Teacher Cadet project assigns students
I can see that upperclassmen see us as having ruined
classmates.
an animal and a basic situation. The students must take that
something special, Allen said. But starting today, this is
You would think that it would be easy to decide what to do
basic idea and turn it into a narrative childrens book, comour school too.
with a turtle and his little life, Carson said. But we got in
plete with illustrations and a performative reading in front of
about one thousand arguments about what would happen to
a panel of judges, who are, of course, teachers themselves.
that little guy. Would he die? Would he become a superhero?
The winning group for the book project this year as Carsons
Would he paint his shell in a rainbow pattern? We were fightgroup: Tanner the Turtle.
ing over a turtle!
In the end, we told a story about him voyaging across the
Tanner the Turtle and other books marked the end of Sunocean and using his shell as a boat, Carson said. I have to
flower High Schools Teacher Cadet project last week. The
give credit to Milton Yettle. That storyline was his idea.
project -- led by Language Arts lab assistant Gloria Ronson -- Principal Alexander Vincent said that the Teacher Cadet
intends to prepare students for careers in teaching. According program will continue, especially because it has produced
to Ronson, that goal was reached this year.
two current Sunflower High School teachers: math instructor
The first day of the project, I had just one girl who was willRachel Bitford and art teacher Thomas English.
Students working on a school project
ing to admit sheep-ishly that she was interested in teaching,
A school should value education, Vincent said. And this is
toghether.
Ronson said. But by the end, half of the class said they were one key way that we do exactly that.

Not Enough Practis To Become a Teacher?