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ollywood tends to hyperbolize reality. No one becomes engaged after four dates, nor would anyone dare drive in the opposite direction on the highway. Paramount Pic-


tures’ 2007 film “Freedom Writers,” however, was nearly spot on. It displayed the reality of some of our nation’s high schools – the high schools in poverty-stricken areas of the United States. In the film, Erin Gruwell is starting her first teaching job as an English teacher at Woodrow Wilson High, a school in one of the poorest areas of Los Angeles. Coming from lives of violence and poverty, Gruwell’s students hate learning, hate each other and, most of all, hate their teachers. What reminds audiences that “Freedom Writers” is just a movie is that despite the challenges, Gruwell keeps trying to reach out to her students – they yell and scream at her, walk out of her class while she’s talking, and even try to steal her pearl necklace, but she continues helping them to succeed. At Decatur, students are fortunate to have teachers that care and


consistently try to reach out – it’s what students expect. At the fic- tional Woodrow Wilson High and other high schools in poor areas of the United States, students don’t have that luxury. Decatur math teacher Linda Spadaccini taught in several of At-


lanta’s public schools and has seen firsthand the victims of careless teachers. “I once taught eighth grade, and students told me they had never had a math teacher that actually taught, that would stand at the board, go over examples [and] answer questions,” Spadaccini said. “Tey told me that their teachers had always said, ‘Look at the examples in the text book, now do the even ones, and do the odd ones for homework.’ It really made me sad for these kids.” In addition to unmotivated teachers, the teacher retention rates at the schools were very low. “Within two or three years of teach- ing, you almost didn’t know anyone else that taught at that school,” Spadaccini said. “In schools like that, it’s not unusual to have 10, 15, or even higher turnover rates. In one school I worked in, they had close to 20 new teachers every year.” Naturally, the job is a tough one. “Teaching high schoolers is hard in itself, because teenagers don’t want to have to be trapped in a build-


54 CARPE DIEM • DECEMBER 2011


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ing for eight hours a day,” Brent Eickhoff, Decatur’s education as a profession teacher, said. “Certain subjects and certain grade levels, of course, are even harder to teach.” Teaching students who believe their high school educations are worthless has its own challenges, and many teachers’ willingness to stay in the profession is destroyed. Last year, Decatur had a teacher retention rate of roughly 92 per-


cent – according to media clerk Susan Riley, only about six teachers left. Considering the status of other schools in DeKalb and Fulton counties, students at Decatur High are extremely fortunate to go to a school with such high teacher retention rates. Now, it’s not recommended that students boast to their Atlanta


public school counterparts how lucky Decatur is. It is, however, recommended that students owe Decatur’s teachers the respect that they deserve. For teachers to continue caring, students must also care. Unfor-


tunately, Decatur shares the similarity with Woodrow Wilson High of disrespect for new, young teachers. “It was rough,” Eickhoff said. “After the first couple of years, I was thinking, ‘Man, is this going to be it for the next 30 years?’” Math teacher Jennifer Nash is now in her sixth year teaching, but her first year teaching at Decatur High. Although Nash isn’t reconsidering her career choice, she does understand why some teachers choose to leave the profession, and offers one simple solu- tion. “I think following school rules and being respectful would be all it took,” she said. After teaching at other schools, Decatur’s teachers recognize the


strong faculty at Decatur. “Tis school has the best teachers I’ve ever seen. Period,” Eickhoff said. “We, top to bottom, by and large, have amazing teachers and we, by and large, have amazing students. But when a student is so hell-bent on not learning, it can be really difficult.” Do teachers – and yourself – a favor by recognizing their commit- ment to you and by making your time together positive and produc- tive. You’ll help Decatur keep good teachers motivated to teach, and you’ll capitalize on your own potential. n – Colleen Suratt for the majority opinion of the editorial board


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