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America is in a Bubble and English is our Force Field
America is in a bubble and English is our force field.No matter where an American travels, they’ll almost always find someone who speaks English. Whether they’re in the streets of Paris or the mountains of Peru, there will always be a response to their slightly desperate, “Does anyone here know English?” As a whole, we’ve…
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Girls Can’t ‘Go with the Flow’ Until Schools Provide Sanitary Products
The women’s restrooms in my school each have two stalls that only occasionally drip from the ceiling. They have three sinks, at least two of which are usually functional. They have mirrors and paper towels and trash cans and practically all the amenities a bathroom needs. There’s just one product they lack: pads.At first glance,…
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The False Dichotomy of Achievement and Equity in Education
There is an illustration residing somewhere in the infinite ether of the Internet that demonstrates the distinction between ‘equality’ and ‘equity.’ It consists of two panels, each with three children of different heights standing at a fence, peering over it to observe a baseball game on the other side. In the ‘equality’ panel, each child…
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“You Can Be Anybody You Want” and “I Couldn’t Talk to Anybody”: A Conversation with Refugee and Immigrant Students
Our lives are a collage of languages: the languages we learn as vernacular and the languages we embody in our posture, action, and breath; the language in the spices of our kitchens, in what and how we eat; the language of ancestry and of circumstance; the language of learning.All of these languages employ their own…
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Making it Work: Balancing a Job with School
Growing up, I always knew I would work as soon as I could. I was a go getter; I knew what I wanted and what I needed. My goals all required money that neither I nor my family had. Even growing up, I knew I had to go to college. I never wanted to struggle…
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“The Scarf Girl”: Musings from the Only Hijabi in an Eastern Kentucky High School
By Jennan LahamerHave you ever been in a situation where you felt utterly alone? Felt that although there were people around you physically, mentally they weren’t present? Felt that no one around you could even fathom the things you were going through, the things you had to push yourself through?I live in Berea, Kentucky, a…
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Making School Meaningful
Too many students don’t find school meaningful, but it could — and should be. When students feel their courses and school work are connected to their futures, they are more engaged, more successful, and more likely to graduate and go on to further education.Student engagement, a measure of meaningfulness, is known to be associated with academic success.…
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Suicide Prevention Should Not Be Optional
“Why should I have to watch the video when I know I don’t want to kill myself?”
It is the beginning of the school year, which means the annual suicide prevention video. This is the one time a year where mental health is addressed to the whole school—the whole school except for the students who… -
Homeless in High School
“One of my first memories of my mother was her snorting pills off of a coffee table when I was just about coffee table high.” When Lindsey was five, her mother, who had a stable job at the time, spiraled into drug addiction. That was after she lost her husband, her father, and her mother…
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“We Can All Still Learn” – A Discussion of the Kavanaugh Hearings and Student News Engagement
Dana Smiley, a member of Oregon Student Voice, recently wrote an article entitled “The general election was a national shouting match. So why were our classrooms so quiet?” Her pressing query prompted us to think not just of political discourse in schools but more broadly about how current events are addressed by educators.
Especially in light…
Student Voice Team has created 22 entries
Student Voice Team
