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Survey Indicates Students Don’t Enjoy School Or Show Respect For Each Other
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
According to a Hillsbor- ough County School District Students survey, ‘students don’t show respect for each other’ and ‘they don’t enjoy going to school.’
According to the survey, only 45% of elementary school students and 22% of middle and high school students said they think students treat each other with respect. The per- centages were the lowest ap- proval rating on the survey.
The survey also revealed that many students, especially the older ones, aren’t happy about spending their days at desks.
The School Climate and Perception Survey is given to students every year, and this year the District went with a smaller sampling, surveying students in third through 12 grades in at least six class- rooms at each of the district’s 200-plus schools.
School Board member, Doretha Edgecomb, said the statement that students don’t’ show respect for each other can mean different things to differ- ent people.
“It can be something like the use of profanity or bump- ing into someone and not say- ing excuse me.
“The numbers are disturb- ing, but we need to make sure the questions are structured better to focus more on specifics.”
Ms. Edgecomb said as far as enjoyment is concerned, some students don’t like get- ting up in the morning to go to school, or they may dislike some instructors.
“One of our biggest chal- lenges is trying to dispel a lot of the stuff students get on social media, through the music they listen to, and some of their peers when it comes to whether or not they need an education.
SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DORETHA EDGECOMB
“Each school will have to work on this individually, be- cause the situations vary.”
Ms. Edgecomb said there are more distractions today for kids, because so many things are competing to get their at- tention.
“Some of the distractions are that instead of going to school, youth can compete in the real world and be success- ful without an education. That’s most attributed to aspir- ing hip hop artists or young ladies doing back porch hair styling.
“That kind of thinking con- tributes to dropouts and teen pregnancies. These are things we have to compete with, and some adults are telling their children they don’t need to go to school, or are not concerned about the failure or success of their children in school.”
Ms. Edgecomb said today’s students have been over-tested and have so many things to deal with at home, in the community, and in school.
School District spokesper- son Steve Hegarty said, the figures obtained from the sur- vey are alarming.
School Board member Sally Harris, who has four- 17-year old foster daughters, said that such a high number of students don’t enjoy school is to be expected, judging from her struggles to motivate her daughters to attend Plant High School each morning.
High School Alumni To Present ‘Spirit Award’ To Graduate
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Saturday, June 27th, the Middleton High School Alumni Association will host its Annual Scholarship Ban- quet and Dance. The event will take place at the Doubletree Hotel, 4500 W. Cypress Street, beginning at 6 p.m.
This year, the guest speaker is Mrs. Kim Moore. Mrs. Moore currently serves as principal of Middleton High School.
She has been assigned to Middleton for several years in various roles, including Assis- tant Principal of Student Af- fairs, and the Assistant Principal of Magnet Curricu- lum.
A native of Chester, Penn- sylvania, Mrs. Moore gradu- ated from Widener University with a degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. After graduating from college, she entered the U. S. Army as a Commissioned Officer.
She later returned to school and obtained her Mas- ter’s of Science and Education Specialist degree in Education Leadership from Nova South- eastern University.
The Alumni will present the “Spirit Award,” to Middle- ton graduate Charles F. (Fred) Hearns.
A native of the Bronx, New York, Hearns was raised in Belmont Heights. He attended Booker T. Washington, Jr. High School, where he played in the Marching and Concert Bands. Hearns then attended
MRS. KIM MOORE Principal, Middleton High School
Middleton High School and graduated with the Class of 1966.
FRED HEARNS
... Recipient of “Spirit Award”
campaign that led to the re-es- tablishment of Middleton as a high school. The newly built high school opened in 2002. The student pavilion outside the school cafeteria bears his name.
Following his retirement, he launched Fred Hearns Tours LLC, an organization that provides tours of local his- toric locations in Tampa.
He is also the founder of the Ada T. Payne Friends of the Urban Libraries and of the Robert W. Saunders Public Li- brary Foundation, Inc.
Hearns currently serves as an adjunct professor at Springfield College, teaching classes in Race, Religion, and Culture.
He is married to Mrs. Rosemary Hearns and they are the parents of 6 adult chil- dren and grandparents of seven.
The couple divides their time between Gainesville and Pinellas County and worship at Allen Temple A. M. E. Church and the Church of God by Faith, in Starke, Florida.
Following
Hearns attended the Univer- sity of South Florida, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English-Journalism. He con- tinued his education at Spring- field College, and earned a Master’s Degree in Human Services. He also earned a Master’s Degree from the Uni- versity of South Florida in Africana Studies.
Hearns retired from the City of Tampa, Department of Community Affairs in 2007, after 32 years of service.
Community Activist
Hearns has maintained a close connection with the Mid- dleton High School Alumni, serving as its president from 1991 to 2000.
In 1971, the Hillsborough County School District closed Middleton High School and re- opened it as a middle school.
Hearns is credited with spearheading the ten-year
graduation,
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