Week 7

Welcome Back!

I hope you all had another great week, and Happy Friday! As I approach this final stretch of my project, I want to thank all of you for being dedicated followers of my posts over the course of the past two months. Your comments of encouragement have been greatly appreciated, and I hope everyone has a successful two months of school before Summer Break--I know...how exciting is that?! 

In this weeks post, I want to focus on an important aspect to have on campus in order to maintain a positive school culture. That is, there must always remain a sense of community. While on campus this week, this was something that I payed close attention to, especially while at last weekends annual school picnic. Even though I've been at BASIS Ahwatukee since it's doors first opened, I've seen things develop and changer over time that have allowed for a definite sense of community at our school. Having a sense of community is a feeling that has to be felt personally and isn't instilled overnight. The Eric Institute of Education Sciences released a study that stated that in order for students to have a sense of campus community, there must be a strive to build a community that (1) offers an environment where self expression is accepted and respected, (2) students and faculty are engaged in learning and teaching, (3) fosters positive relationships among ethnic and cultural groups through programs and student activities, (4) celebrates traditions and heritage of the institution, and (5) provides assistance to students when they feel lonely or depressed. One way in which both the Ahwatukee and DC campus address the first part (1), is by allowing their students to a certain degree, express themselves in an appropriate manner. The BASIS DC Gay Straight Alliance and the BASIS Ahwatukee Spectrums Club for LGBT+ and Allies, are both examples of programs in place that allow students a Safe Space for open self expression on campus (if you aren't familiar with Safe Space, click on the Safe Space link). As for (3), this is something that I've stressed the importance of throughout the course of my project. Even after talking with students and faculty from both campuses, BASIS as a whole tends to value the importance of positive relationships developing on campus. Especially those among a variety of ethnic and cultural groups prevalent of campus. Living in this current world has proven, at least for some ethnic and cultural groups, almost no chance of ever getting along. However, when you set foot on a BASIS campus and experience positive interactions between groups of people, where history has proven these groups to be in constant conflict, you are met with the challenge of how to maintain that positive engagement, and at times, you're given that chance to witness with your own eyes, one of the many beauties of life.  Along with this, two slightly differing forms of an International Night take place on both campuses. This is an opportunity for the school community to come out once a year, and experience a taste of the many cultures at that specific BASIS campus. There's always a variety of food, activities, informational presentation boards, and sometimes even music and dancing, where everyone gets the opportunity to experience a small portion of the culture of someone else who lives life from a slightly different angle. There is also the presence of a Leadership Club on both campuses. This is a student driven club in charge of planning school dances, spirit weeks, and organizing holiday grams along with a variety of other school activities. This gives students that chance to make the school their own and offer an appealing opportunity to students and faculty, as well as their families to get involved in. There are so many ways the different aspects of developing a sense of community are met by both of these not so vastly differing campuses. But, because I don't want you to read though a 1000 word blog post, I will leave you with what I have, and I look forward to presenting my last bits of information and findings over the course of these short and fast-coming few weeks. As always, thanks again for stopping by and have an amazing weekend!

Best, 

Eli 

Week 6

Hello Everyone!

As always, I hope you've all had a great week! This week  has definitely been a busy one, as I conducted many interviews and student surveys. All in all, this week has made for a great opportunity to learn more about my school, BASIS Ahwatukee, and see how the experience has been for both students and faculty. For the purpose of this blog, I want to share some insight I received from my interviewees and how they believe the culture of BASIS Ahwatukee has allowed for their success.

The idea that "academic success" is seen as a good thing and not a bad thing was one of the interesting conversations in my interviews. It was something that I had never put much thought in until now. This was especially after I made a connection to a discussion I had with a student at BASIS Washington DC. The fact that BASIS offers a safe environment to those who excel academically, where they aren't teased and made fun of for being intelligent and having a desire to learn, goes to show how much we value the importance of a positive school culture. Even more interestingly, the interviewee went on to say that from the very beginning of the school opening, there has always been a bilateral encouragement and willingness to help one another achieve their goals, between students. This is something that isn't always prevalent on a "typical" high school campus where being smart or the so called "nerd" isn't always admirable. In connection with the discussion I had with a student from the  DC campus, this student remembered the experience attending regular schools and how difficult it was to be treated differently just because they were a fast learner. They described their experience as the student who received extra packets or work and revised lessons plans. This student had became frustrated, especially because they weren't being challenged and felt as though they didn't fit in. From the interviews I've had with people, to the student surveys I've read through, BASIS seems to offer an environment open to all people and can even become flexible when there are those who don't quite catch on as fast as others.

Another thing I'd like to discuss from my interviews thus far as a whole, is a commonality between all of these discussions. One of the questions I've asked interviewees is, "what would you like to see differently at our school that could help improve the development and sustainment of a positive school culture". The common response was that they felt BASIS could do a better job at keeping things consistent. In other words, BASIS needs to work on its consistency. On a campus as unique as BASIS Ahwatukee where we've experienced much change in a shot span of time, there has to be to some degree, a level of consistency that students can depend on in their daily lives. Whether this consistency be in rules, policies, procedures, or even those in charge such as admin and staff . For example, there have been those such as teachers, students and admin who have been at our campus from the beginning. More specifically, there have been teachers from the beginning who have had the opportunity to develop unique relationships with students, where they really know them and even their families, often times over a couple of years. This has allowed these teachers to not only build a solid relationship with that student but learn what the specific needs of that student are over years of development through teaching them multiple subjects. With a constantly changing admin like BASIS Ahwatukee, you get a more bureaucratic approach to student life, discipline, and any problems that may arise. With that, the people who may be enacting discipline, creating rules, or developing programs, are doing so from somewhat of a cold environment. A cold environment in the sense that there isn't an "organic" knowing of these students and who they, where they're at, and what they need. Some students have described this as just a prescription or system that begins to feel cold over time. From a students perspective of this situation, most of them resent the fact that they've been there longer than some of those who are enacting these changes without any sort of explanation. In affect, this causes some students to feel slightly disrespected. But, because things are constantly changing, there isn't the opportunity for new people to realize the maturity and growth of students who have been there since the beginning and the fact they can deal with the hardships of life and tough information if given it upfront. One way I believe BASIS Ahwatukee can begin to improve this issue is by possibly having meetings between admin and staff with students in a sort of "town-hall" setting. That way students can voice their concerns and feel a sense of being heard. This also provides an opportunity for relationships to begin formulating between students and admin. Like I've said many times before, good strong relationships is important for having a positive school culture.

As always, I look forward to keeping you all up to date about my progress, and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Best,
Eli

Week 5

Welcome Back Everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed your break! I'm glad be back into the swing of things here on the Ahwatukee campus. Being that this was the first week back on campus after spring break, everyone was busy preparing for this final stretch of the school year. That being said, I didn't have very many conversations with students or faculty but, I spent time scheduling meetings for next week as well as preparing for the next round of interviews and surveys.

For this post, I want to focus on an idea that I received much inspiration on from other individuals  during my stay in D.C. It's something that I was guilty of saying and agreeing with throughout my time as a high school student at BASIS. It's the idea of a "typical high school experience" You often hear this statement linger throughout the halls of BASIS, and at times, is the reason why some make the decision to find a place in which offers this "typical" experience. This is not to say that there is something wrong with BASIS but, because BASIS models the school of choice model, students are given the choice to stay or find a place in which better suits their wants and needs. However, as I began to think more about this idea, I began to ask myself, "why was I so determined to chase after this typical high school experience"? I never really struggled with the BASIS curriculum and I didn't play sports--something that you don't find a wide variety of on a BASIS campus. For other students that I've talked to, they say that they yearn for the overall social aspect of attending the "typical" American high school. They want the fully loaded experience--one in which includes the sports, the pep rallies, the dances, the overwhelmingly large student bodies, the occasional drama, and the sense of having some balanced level of a social life. I wasn't surprised to hear some of these because quite honestly, many of these were at one point in my BASIS experience, things I wanted as well. Luckily I came to realize what BASIS had to truly offer me. There were times in which I nearly made the decision to leave but, every time I tried, I couldn't convince myself that anywhere else would be a better fit for me.  It was time that I made the experience my own, instead of trying to model it after something "typical". After having this epiphany, I told myself that I had to stop trying  to force my BASIS experience into becoming something that could be bottle necked into a jar of other typical high school experiences. As a BASIS student, I believe as BASIS community we have to appreciate who we are and what we have to offer. We have to truly become accepting and appreciative of our uniqueness. Even as a charter school, we have the unique opportunities to develop our own unique programs and ways of education--something that a "typical" high school doesn't always offer. Being a BASIS school means more than continuously achieving more and being successful but, we are setting an example and raising the bar for the American education system--that is of course as we deal with our own imperfections and find ways to improve upon them. If we are going to do so successfully, we have to first appreciate ourselves for who we are before we can convince others the same.

I hope that post has served as new perspective for some of you reading, and I look forward to keeping you all posted.

Best,

-Eli

Week 4

Welcome back Everyone!

I hope you've all had an amazing Spring Break! Last week was technically my personal spring break however, I didn't realize that BASIS Ahwatukees Spring Break was this week. So, although I didn't necessarily perform any further research on campus this week, I took this opportunity to recap my trip to D.C, in preparation for arrival back on campus next week to complete the second half of my project. I hope you all are enjoying the information that I've posted and please continue to leave comments below--the feedback is much appreciated!

As I said, this week I took the opportunity to reflect on my trip to D.C and more so, reflect on the BASIS experience as a whole. Thus far, one of the things that I've noticed about BASIS Ahwatukee and BASIS Washington D.C, as they continue to develop a school culture, both campuses strive in building positive relationships. Although I may not be researching every BASIS school, I'd like to make the assumption that this is the same among the entire BASIS community. As I spent time on the D.C campus, I payed attention to the interactions between students, teachers, and staff. I would often listen in on student conversations and what they had to say about their teachers, other students, and staff. Of course there was always a common frustration among the students with their teachers about an assignment they weren't too excited about having to complete. However conversations always held to a some degree or another, a positive attitude. Students provided assistance to one another, while teachers opened up their classrooms and offered any necessary resources to their students. As for the staff and other administrators, everyone maintained a positive and professional relationship between one another. If I were a student at BASIS D.C, I would appreciate the fact that while living in a large city and being exposed to things that can cause various levels of stress, there is a positive attitude maintained that is reflected through the many relationships being built on campus. Even from my own personal experience attending BASIS Ahwatukee, I've always felt the need to emphasize that I've had the unique opportunity to build positive, long lasting relationships--the kind of relationships most people would say you won't have until college but, I'd like to say that BASIS is establishing new norms and traditions. 

Having positive relationships is not only vital to maintaining a positive school culture but, as well as a healthy life. Without these quality relationships, a school campus might become a place in which doesn't offer a safe environment for students to learn and grow together. Whether this relation is between you and a friend, you and a sibling, or you and a teacher/administrator, each of these relationships gives us the chance to invest our energy in making our own and another persons reality better. In essence, these relationships offer us the unique opportunity to invest in our futures. Learning how to build these positive relationships now, is important, rather than waiting until much later in our lives when knowing the right person and having a good relationship with them, may have earned you the keys to part of your success. Luckily, BASIS offers an environment for you to learn these skills from an early age. 

I'm very excited to be back on campus next week to continue my research. For those of you still on break or may be beginning one, I hope you enjoy your time off as much as I have! I look forward to keeping you all updated and remember to check back here next Friday for my latest update!

Best, 

Eli