Principals Corner
With the first week out of the way time is already flying by. It feels like sometimes I just don’t get to communicate with all the students, teachers, and stakeholders like I want to and I apologize for that. I think the biggest concern I have right now for our junior and senior high school is taking advantage of educational opportunities. Some of the awesome educational opportunities outside of general classroom schedules that we currently have at Hagerman HS on campus include: Academy of Agriculture and Food Science, Health Science Dual Credit Courses (for medical careers), FFA, BPA (business), Range and Plant Science Dual Credit Courses (for Ag careers), Math 143 (College Algebra), ENGL 101 dual credit (pending), Biology Dual Credit Course, Adobe/Office Certifications, Digital Learning Classes, AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), music, and Spanish I.
For a rural school, we do have a good start to some educational opportunities to offer our students to help prepare them for college and career readiness. Our struggle seems to be that students are avoiding, or are not interested in these educational opportunities. I understand that many students might not find an interest in these subject areas being offered, but when I ask our students if they are planning on going to a higher educational institution (college/trade school) after graduation they have said “yes”. So here is the question I pose to myself, “Why would a student not take these general dual-credit courses (Math, Science, Language Arts (soon to come), Range, Food Science) at Hagerman HS and not have to pay for them versus taking them after they graduate when they are going to pay $300-$700 (maybe even higher) a class?” It kind of has me shaking my head. These are some the reasons for not attempting these courses I have over heard this last year from our students……………too hard, I will have to study more, the teacher is too hard, I will take it after I graduate because it will be my money and I will try harder (no lie), it will affect my gpa, it stresses me out, I can’t trust myself to study.
So our students who leave Hagerman with a high school diploma, are they really preparing themselves to go on to higher education opportunities if they are not willing to attempt these educational opportunities that we already have to offer here at our school? It is these reasons that concern me regarding our students here at Hagerman. If we have opportunities to create a pathway for them to (1) get a few of the general education courses on the way toward their college degree, or certificate, (2) get them prepared for life situations through commitment and learning to persevere, (3) push them educationally with them knowing that they can achieve and choose where they want to go with a degree, or certificate (and make money), why would students take the path of least resistance and expect to be successful in life?
Sure, maybe students might choose to enroll in the job force and forgo a trade school or college, but advanced opportunities will still be part of that path as well if they want to move up the pay scale.We need to invest in the educational opportunities that Hagerman has to offer and positively invest in our students to take advantage of these opportunities. I really don’t know when these opportunities will disappear. Our school has had some good educational doors opening recently, and we are very thankful for those, but we are at the mercy of those who have given us those opportunities. We would hope that all of our educational opportunities will be around every year, unfortunately with limited enrollment, due to lack of interest in these courses, we could lose those opportunities.
I am asking for our parents and community members to help to provide support to our students, or your students, about taking advantage of these educational opportunities. The State of Idaho is giving students $4200 to spend on some of these opportunities………yes that is correct. So it would cost students the price of some dedication and a little hard work to make that investment. Having the instructors here on campus also makes it easier to get help in those courses. Investing in all our students at home and at school, should be our ultimate goal. We want to encourage all of our students here at Hagerman Jr/Sr High take advantage of all educational opportunities and to help prepare them towards a more successful future.