Today, I am very proud of my little brother. He's a freshman in a school district that is facing some very, very painful budget cuts for the 2011-2012 school year. Hundreds of teachers set to lose their jobs (after hundreds lost their jobs last year)and he full understands what the repercussions mean for him; no music, art, soccer, or electives, limited opportunities for foreign language and even larger class sizes than what he has to deal with already. He also is one of the few students to understand that the district is not to blame for the budget woes. All this would be avoided if the state of Illinois would pay the schools the millions and millions of dollars they owe.
As a sign of support for the hundreds of teachers losing their jobs and as a statement that they care about the future of the quality of their education, the 3 high school in district 300 staged a walk-out during their advisory period (it's a 25 minute block similar to homeroom). He, along with 2500 other students at his school (plus thousands of other at the other 2 high schools) left their advisory rooms and gathered in front of the school to make a statement. What made me really proud was the conversation I had with him later in the day.
He was telling me how he understood the walk out wouldn't change anything, the cuts have to happen no matter what, but he was glad to see so many students come together for a cause.
"This is something Jacobs really needs", he told me. "We need a reason to come together and show some school spirit." He was absolutely right. Jacobs High School has absolutely no school spirit what so ever. Most students don't care about much of anything. They needed a reason to come together and relate to one another and to voice their opinion about something they truly care about.
Whats happening in our district is really effecting him. He knows what it means for his future and it's unfortunate to see him have to worry about this so much. He's too young to make a difference by voting but I'm proud of him for making his voice heard in a different way. You really know how important this was to him because this conversation took place at 10:00 in the morning as I was picking him up from school, sick. He went to school just so he could show how much he cares about the future of the district and the future of his education.
I was really proud of my little brother today. I hope this experience stays with him as he gets older and gives him a little taste of actively participating in democracy that will stay with him as he becomes of voting age.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-24/news/ct-met-jacobs-school-walkout-20110324_1_teachers-union-school-board-kolleen-hanetho
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