In today’s society, school is a major part of a child’s life. However, some students don't take their education seriously and this can lead to lower grades. This could be for a number of different reasons, for example, a poor student to teacher ratio or poor learning circumstances. While the amount of students on grade level in Wake County is up from last year, the overall trend has been down in the past five years (ncpublicschools 2012-17). Students are not performing on tests and there were over 10,000 dropouts in North Carolina in 2015-16 (ncpublicschools 2017). Of the 110 elementary schools in Wake County that we have statistics for, 37.3 percent did not meet growth expectations for the 16-17 school year (ncpublicschools 2017). So after graduating high school, or not, these students are dispersed into our community, where they don't have the experience or skills to add anything too it. This is a really big issue because we want to make our community better, adding more jobs and a better economy to the region. Frankly, I would love a community full of smart educated citizens who make good choices, that help benefit our community. I know my group members and I had a good elementary school education, and I know that has really helped shape who I am. I remember receiving help from tutors, talking to kids older than me, and just plain asking for help. This led me to understand more of the topics we would study. Plus, there's an easy fix, with just a little help from our community, giving a little bit of time to help these elementary schools whose performances are lacking, doing something so simple as reading to students or helping them with math, we can turn this issue around, making our community better along the way. North Carolina schools The issue we are focusing on, is that grades in some Wake County elementary schools are very low and a lot of schools are not meeting their yearly goals. Last year, forty one elementary schools in Wake County didn’t meet their growth standards (ncpublicschools 2017). This issue has a huge impact on our community. Some school performance grades are really low and it poorly affects the school’s appearance. These students who either need help or are just not trying, are really a big part of the issue. For example, Bugg Elementary School got a thirty four percent on their overall school performance grade (ncpublicschools 2017). The students who go to these schools, will forever be affected by this issue and growth standards. They aren’t getting the proper education that they need and from that, they will always be behind. It is important that we help them grow so they are able to share their knowledge with the world. Specifically, this has always been an issue in our community though it has become more of a struggle in the past few years. When kids are younger, they are not taught to take school seriously. Kids need to have a role model early on in their lives to teach them the importance of having knowledge. The lack of these role models is a big cause of this issue. In the future this leads to poor grades and a high number of student dropouts. Also, after graduating these kids will become a part of our community but they won’t have the knowledge or experience to give. These students not having a proper education affects us all because they are the future. Everyone’s future relies on these kids and what they are able to accomplish, which is why this is a large issue that needs to be solved immediately. However, this issue cannot be solved immediately. Though there are several organizations that are available to mentoring children, the problem is most of them are out of school rather than in school with the students. Of the several organizations in North Carolina, they all offer help in one area or another to give students chances at better lives. Some organizations for example, the Boys and Girls Club of America, help students by organizing programs out of school focused on certain topics. These programs allow students to understand the importance of certain topics such as career development, education, and health (Boys and Girls Club of America 2017). By doing these programs, we can make our community a better place through the educations of the younger generations. Other organizations such as the Triangle Literacy Council, work one on one with students to try and see where they are struggling and help in the areas that help is needed. Organizations like those are more focused on giving students the information needed to graduate high school and go to college which from there they can acquire jobs. Mentors inc. for example, works with older students in high school on academic subjects such as STEM to develop skills for 21st century jobs. One of their goals through their program is to give every student “... the support or guidance needed to graduate high school, prepared to be successful and productive citizens.” (Mentors inc. 2016). These give students a chance at a better having a better contribution in our communities. There are many steps that need to be done and requirements that need to be met before we start mentoring. The most glaring requirement is a school to mentor at, this however has already been solved, and it has been decided that we will be mentoring at Bugg Elementary. This is because they have been falling behind in all subjects, and may need additional support (Public Schools Of North Carolina 2017). The second most important requirement is volunteers, which is more difficult. The current plan for getting enough people to help is to advertise around the school for a month or two before they are required, (perhaps even ask for a shoutout on the morning announcements) the goal is to have at least 40 volunteers and at least 1 adult chaperone for every 10 students. After volunteers, there aren't many other requirements that need to be met that can’t be easily acquired out of pocket. Action Plan Our goal is to show struggling students the value of school before they get that annoying “I hate school attitude” that some kids tend to develop. A study by The University Of Nebraska, developing strong reading habits can increase academic performance (Acheaw 2014). The catch is that these habits must be formed while the children are impressionable and before they develop the idea that reading isn't fun. Because of this, our focus on the mentoring may be more on reading primarily and focus on subjects such as math and history as secondary focuses. If possible, we hope to get into contact with the school administrators at bug elementary to determine what subjects the students may need additional help with. By the end of this project we hope to have inspired at least 1 student to take school seriously and focus on their education. Works Cited Sonneman, Curtis.”2016-17 State, District, and School Level End-of-Course and End-of Grade Achievement Level Report.” Public Schools of North Carolina. 29 Nov. 2017. 24 Jan. 2018 <http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/accountability/reporting/2017/reports /1617testresults.xlsx> Sonneman, Curtis. “2016-17 School Performance Grade Score and Growth Status.” Public Schools of North Carolina. 29 Nov. 2017. 24 Jan. 2018 <http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/accountability/reporting/2017/reports/spg1617.xlsx> Public schools of North Carolina.”Report to the North Carolina General Assembly.” Public schools of North Carolina. 15 Mar. 2017. 23 Jan. 2018 <http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/research /discipline/reports/consolidated/2015-16/consolidated-report.pdf> Boys and Girls Club of America. “Club Impact.” Boys and Girls Club of America. 24 Jan. 2018 <https://www.bgca.org/about-us/club-impact> The News and Observer. “2015-16 NC school performance” The News and Observer. 1 Sep. 2016. 22 Jan. 2018 <http://www.newsobserver.com/news/databases/article98569482.html> Nguyen, Arly. “The value in mentoring youth” Social Work License Map. 30 Jan. 2015. 22 Jan. 2018 <https://socialworklicensemap.com/the-value-in-mentoring-our-youth-> Triangle Literacy Council. “Programs.” Triangle Literacy Council” 23 Jan. 2018 <http://www.triangleliteracy.org/learn/programs/> Mentors Inc. “Mentoring with career and STEM exploration” Mentors Inc. 23 Jan. 2018 <http://www.mentorsinc.org/about-us/our-program/mentoring-with-career- and-STEM-exploration> Public schools of North Carolina. “State/ LEA and school test performance” Public schools of North Carolina. 2012-17. 23 Jan 2018 <http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability /reporting/leaperformancearchive/> Archeaw, Michael.”Reading Habits Among Students and its E ect on Academic Performance: A Study of Students of Koforidua Polytechnic.”digitalcommons. June 4th, 2014. January 29th 2018.<https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2908&context =libphilprac>
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AuthorI'm Mills Austin. I am in eighth grade at Martin Middle school. ArchivesCategories |