​Cohorts and Student Communication

By Kani McNeil
 
 There is a disconnect among the student body of East High, and it is more than just teachers or students.
 
“I can tell you that people do not pay attention to announcements as closely as would be beneficial, nor do all kids attend Town Halls,” says Mrs. Blocker, head principal of East High. However, I believe that it is more than just a matter of a multitude of scholars not attending their 30-minute “school family time.”  Why is this information solely based on one's attendance where situations such as sickness or family emergency are the possibility, especially considering the assortment of viruses that have occurred in the last two years? Mrs. Blocker offered some administrative perspective on the situation.
 
In this interview, I came to the understanding that when it comes to bridging the cohorts and the faculty there’s only been small stones placed. Blocker reaffirmed that students are also accountable for the lack of communication when it comes to events at East High, saying, “Much information flows through Family Group also, but some kids do not attend this daily.” And on most fronts, I completely agree with her sentiments. Scholars should be where they are supposed to be in order to have a chance to gain knowledge about the school that they love. However, I believe that the information solely based on being there is an incomplete practice. Let me ask: If information is based on showing up to school and having only a chance to learn something, what happens to the people who can’t show up? Unforeseen circumstances are a part of everyone's life; nobody is certain of the future. To this, she replied, “I can tell you that people do not read e-mails as closely as would be beneficial.” Though the use of email for a scholar should be common, I assure you that it is not. With the multitude of emails acquired from multiple teachers and classes, as well as important information potentially getting lost in the spam pile, this practice of information spreading is not without its flaws. In order to help eliminate such flaws I suggest a social media page that is accessible to all that want it, that way the information can be obtained as easily as a click of a button. 
 
Blocker also wanted to know what the student body is thinking around this topic. She asked, “What type of activities do Cohorts want?”; “How do scholars feel we could better communicate?” and “How do we get more scholars involved in decision-making?” With these questions she articulated how out of touch the students and faculty truly are. We want information and ways to bond but we as young adults need to communicate specifically what it is we want. 
 
With disconnect, you may be discouraged. However, Blocker has hope for us yet, saying, “The great thing about East is we have the ability to make changes whenever we see something is not working and we have the power to try new things.” The head principal isn’t opposed to hearing from her student body either saying, “I encourage scholars to become a part of Governance Council or Light House Team or Student Government or clubs to have their voice heard.” Even more, she offered to have a more hands-on approach, saying “There are also Principal Scholar Roundtables this year, with one coming up next week for scholars to share their thoughts and ideas with me as the principal.”
 
With this, we can see that the miscommunication between the staff and students of East high school is from both sides; so I’d like to encourage all my fellow scholars to advocate for themselves in order to bring the change we see fit.