When is the “right” to retain a student? Every year we deal with this question and every year it is the same question we must answer, what good will it do? This year was no different. We started off the year with holding out parent-teacher conferences as usual and completing all our initial paperwork. From September to January, we continued to email, Zoom, or hold in-person meetings with parents individually based on behavior, attendance, and academic inconsistencies. Our 7th grade team kept records of our correspondence with parents and other district personal providing support for individual students. Pushing for students to attend after-school tutoring, redo low scoring assignments, and prompting students to complete a list of missing assignments was our way of providing the extra support students identified as in danger of failing. At times, parents would provide varying degrees of support for teachers to aid in our efforts to ensure their child would not be placed on the dreaded list.
As time progressed, administration wanted our list of students we believed should be retained and based on the categories of excessive absences, failing grades in content areas, or behavior. As we place students into these categories little by little names are crossed off by the “Team” consisting of administration, counselor, MTSS, and Native American/Mexican American Liaisons. Teachers were deliberately kept out of these meetings and simply passed on the students who the “Team” would support the possible retention. We continued to offer all supportive measures listed above and in some cases students were willing to change and become more involved in their educational process. However, those students who continued to take no interest believed there was nothing going to happen to them since our school does not offer retention summer school and last year nothing was done when they failed everything.
Here we are in the last week of school when the final list is submitted to the district. Our list was dwindled down to only one student. Excuse after excuse was provided for all the other students to get them “off the hook”. Those students continued with the understanding that they can waste an entire year of free education, disturbed the learning of other students, and simply be passed on. Now the one student that we were able to retain has now gone to the board with their guardian to push that the retention be overturned even though the guardian was in favor and signed the retention last month. Now that it is a reality she will repeat 7th grade the student was able to convince the guardian to fight for her because it would be too embarrassing to not be with her friends. Why was it not embarrassing to fail classes, entering classes 20-30 minutes late and escorted by admin. or monitor, reprimanded for putting on make-up in class, sleeping in class, cursing at the teachers when they tried to get her to work or take ownership of her actions. It just boggles the mind how parents will go along with us for retention the entire year until the very last days and completely change just to keep their child from not being held accountable.
We now await the decision of the district to see if they given in to the guardian’s demand or uphold the process which they created and we followed. We won’t know until the next board meeting to be held next month. If by chance the retention is upheld the student will most likely be prompted to 8th grade at the end of 1st semester. The reason will be because of the student’s age not the turn around, if she decides to become the student we know she is capable of being. Time will only tell.
Laura Ballesteros
Laura was destined to be a teacher when as a small child she would gather her stuff animals and teach them how to read a book she saw on the PBS show Reading Rainbow. She began her quest to become a teacher with focusing on teaching American History, but an art history teacher guided her towards teaching English. He wanted to ensure she would be able to get a teaching position right out of college. She followed his suggestion and upon subbing at a middle school she ran into her former middle school Social Studies teacher Elizabeth Clontz. Upon completion of their conversation with the principal Laura was offered a position at that school. Mrs. Clontz provided her with the support and direction she needed to complete her first three years of teaching with confidence and dedication to her craft. Laura has spent all 23 years of her teaching at that very school in Language Arts, Special Education, Read 180, Jaguar Den Intervention, and Social Studies 6-8. In 2007, she earned her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction. In 2013, she earned her National Board Certification in Early Adolescent Language Arts. She is currently in her dream position as a 7th grade teacher focusing on WWI, WWII, Holocaust, Cold War, and Economics. Over her 23 years teaching, she has taken her students on field trips to museums, concerts, Broadway plays, the state capital, theme parks, and wild animal parks. She has created Hogwarts Night, WWII Bond Dances, and AVID Parent/Students Nights. She is most happy with her teaching when students can interact with history and have fun with it. In her free time, she travels to places related to the history she teaches. She has had the privilege of visiting Europe in 2018 and 2022 under the guidance and financial support of the WWII Museum and NAU Martin-Springer Institute. She has traveled across the country under the guidance of economic organizations to explore economic issues of the past and present. She enjoys returning with her wealth of information and experiences to share with her husband and son.