Home Home Home About Us Home About Us About Us About Us /links/index.html /links/index.html /links/index.html /advertising/index.html /links/index.html /advertising/index.html /advertising/index.html /advertising/index.html About Us About Us /archives/index.html About Us /archives/index.html About Us /archives/index.html /archives/index.html /subscribe/index.html /archives/index.html /subscribe/index.html /archives/index.html /subscribe/index.html /subscribe/index.html /survey/index.html /subscribe/index.html /survey/index.html /subscribe/index.html /survey/index.html /survey/index.html /survey/index.html /links/index.html /survey/index.html /links/index.html /links/index.html /links/index.html
Home About Us About Us /links/index.html /advertising/index.html /advertising/index.html
About Us /archives/index.html /archives/index.html /subscribe/index.html /subscribe/index.html /survey/index.html /survey/index.html /survey/index.html /links/index.html

FAMOUS INTERVIEWS

Directories:

SCHOLARSHIPS & GRANTS

HELP WANTED

Tutors

Workshops

Events

Sections:

Books

Camps & Sports

Careers

Children’s Corner

Collected Features

Colleges

Cover Stories

Distance Learning

Editorials

Famous Interviews

Homeschooling

Medical Update

Metro Beat

Movies & Theater

Museums

Music, Art & Dance

Special Education

Spotlight On Schools

Teachers of the Month

Technology

Archives:

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

1995-2000


 
New York City
April 2001

High School Students Lead the Way

By Pola Rosen, Ed.D.

The voices of scores of students and teachers were heard recently at Teen Leadership Day, under the aegis of Thirteen, WNET. A panel of students and adults engaged in lively debate as Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree posed provocative questions about racism, bias, and first amendment issues. The panel was told that they were now in hypothetical New City High School, with a diverse group of students. Professor Ogletree stated that a student columnist for the school newspaper submitted an article titled, “White Boys Can’t Jump.” Assigning different roles to the panel, Professor Ogletree asked the school body “president”, the school newspaper “editor,” the school faculty “advisor,” the school “principal,” and other “students” what they would do. The floor was then opened to the audience of about 500 students and teachers. Microphones stationed around the auditorium quickly had long lines; everyone wanted to plunge into the dialogue and the responses were fascinating. “As long as you have a disclaimer in the newspaper, it’s OK,” said one student. The “principal” wanted to stop the column because spreading hate was not the way to raise consciousness, a Latino on the panel (Hector Gesualdo, head of ASPIRA New York, played the role) stated he would translate the story into Spanish and see how it played out, the writer of the column felt that you could write whatever you want and expect controversy, the school editor was against offensive writing. Other emotion-stirring questions asked by Professor Ogletree were: what if a slogan appears in your school yearbook, partially hidden by photos, that says “no niggers, no faggots, no Jews, kill them all;” what about March Madness, [the time that students receive acceptances to college] and someone from school gets into an ivy league school. You attribute the success to affirmative action. When Education Update asked Professor Ogletree about his personal views on inflammatory comments in the press, he stressed, “I’m a big advocate of the first amendment. Print offensive material; let people respond to it.”

Dr. Bill Baker, President of Thirteen/WNET views the teen leadership conferences as “giving our youth the tools [to become] powerful and moving. I’m so impressed by the quality of our youth. I am faced by moral dilemmas and swimming in the same river, against the same current [as the students]. I am spiritually moved by this.”

Channel 13, he went on to explain, “is the single largest grass-roots teacher training institution in the nation.” About 130,000 teachers across the country study and refer to the lessons and programs on WNET.

Mr. Ken Duane, Vice-Chairman of Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation and a sponsor of the event spoke to Education Update about the primary mission of his company: getting employees actively involved in community life. They are given time during the work week to volunteer. “To our CEO, Bruce Klatsky, education is the great equalizer. By supporting education and Channel 13, we are helping to provide a better future workforce,” said Duane.

 

Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2001.




SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS
DIRECTORIES