By Kata Rothhorn
Portrait
East Lansing HS
1st Place Division 3, News Writing
Informative Feature
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Leads capture attention, arouses curiosity
- Topic relevant to interests and/or welfare of school or students
- Thorough investigation through research and interviews
- Combines basics of good news and feature writing
- Organized with smooth transitions
- Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely and vividly
- Uses proper diction and grammar
- Balanced and fair presentation
Allison Densico asked her students in first hour AP Statistics if they wanted to switch out of her class on the first day of school. When she said it, her words felt like a joke, or a way to loosen up the atmosphere. But by the second or third time she suggested having a free first hour, the students started to realize that she wasn’t just laughing along with them. After they spent three days stumbling over backpacks stuffed in the cramped aisle space between 38 desks, it became apparent that the class could not stay that size for the rest of the year. Some people were going to have to leave. Devon Johnson (12) was one of those people. “I knew the class was going to be very rowdy,” Johnson said. “I knew that I’d have a better experience learning…in second hour [statistics].” Now at 34 students in week seven, Denisco’s first hour statistics class is one of 61 classes at the high school this year with over 31 students, the highest numbers in 20 years according to Associate Principal Nick Hamilton. At the beginning of the school year, English teacher and East Lansing Education Association President Timothy Akers had three AP Language classes that totaled nearly 100 students. He has been working with the administration on how to handle class sizes since they first realized sections were overflowing. “I don’t want to blame them for poor planning,” Akers said. “I think they just got caught off guard with the influx of kids, because usually you don’t see that big of an increase in enrollment all in one year.” This is one of the main reasons the administration has been teaming up with teachers to lower and more evenly distribute class sizes throughout the school. “Administration has met with each of the department chairs to troubleshoot with the departments,” Hamilton said. “What the class sizes looked like, what we want to do with it moving forward…We’ve explored all options. We’re still kind of exploring options.” What’s the impact? Every day, when sixth hour rolls around, English Department Chair Sheri Seyka has to borrow a stool from the neighboring classroom in order to fit all of her students within her creative writing class. Seating 35 kids in her classroom isn’t a huge obstacle in itself, but it does alter the pace of her teaching a bit. “We’re still getting through the same curriculum,” Seyka said. “But we’re squished in a lot. We’re working a lot closer than we usually do.” Having these larger classes means teachers have less one-on-one time with their students. “In the past, I was able to have more small group discussions with students because I only had 19 kids in the class,” Denisco said. “And so when there’s 34, it’s just harder to get around to see if everybody is understanding as much as they were before…it just changes the dynamic a little bit.” This change doesn’t always work for students who are taking challenging classes. Ji Hye Min (12) wasn’t able to take statistics this year due to crowded classes. She needed to take a senior math class but AP Calculus definitely was not her first option. “I’m doing really bad on my tests and homework, so I kind of want to drop [AP Calculus AB],” Min said. “I asked my calculus teacher, [Mark] Foster, and he told me he would help me during excel…but right now, every time I go to excel class, there are so many people, that I can’t really ask for questions that I want to ask.” Other problems arose for students when the crowded classroom has only so many materials to go around. Jewelry and metalworking is taught during only one class period, which causes backups when students are all trying to use the same tools. “You work with saws, and drill presses and buffing wheels and so when it’s too crowded, it’s hard to get things done,” Freya Dufner (12) said. “And then since there’s one teacher, everyone has to ask her questions at the same time. It’s a lot of waiting for the teacher to be available because she has to sign off on everything you do, since you’re using heavy machinery.” This lack of quality teaching time has led some students to look into Michigan Virtual Online Classes. At the beginning of the school year, Katelyn Smith, the online school mentor, had 38 students enrolled in online classes. By the end of the sixth week of school, that number had more than doubled to 78 kids. But online school isn’t a great alternative for everyone. “I could have taken online classes,” Min said. “But if there’s no teacher, I really can’t study by myself. I actually need a teacher and [be able to] ask questions.” Perhaps hiring a few new teachers would be a simple solution to this problem but in reality, it isn’t all that simple. Not only would the introduction of new sections completely alter everyone’s schedules, but it’s impossible to hire one or two teachers who would be able to balance out overcrowding throughout the school. “It’s difficult to hire someone this late anyways,” Hamilton said. “But it’s even more difficult to say we’re just gonna hire one person to solve all our class sizes. That’s just not realistic, it’s probably not even realistic to say we would hire three people and have them cover the areas which need to be covered.” The simple truth is, there is no perfect solution to crowded classes – at least this year. Looking into the future, it’s obvious this is not going to be a one time issue. The middle school numbers have increased by 39 students from last year and is predicted to keep growing. However, with better planning and perhaps the hiring of a new teacher or two, the high school can become better prepared for a larger population of students. “We know that our student body is growing,” Student counselor Nicole Coss said. “And because our student body is growing moving forward, as we go into scheduling for next year we’re going to take that into account.