One of the great things about the campus at Hillsides is our ability to interact with students and residents. Give them the opportunity and they will tell you with no hesitation exactly what they are thinking about and what their opinions might be on any and all topics whether you want to hear or not. Why not? At the end of the day it’s all about them.
Recently, Jay Bechtol, director of the Hillsides Education Center, sat down with some of the students to get their views on the school program. What follows is Jay's account of their input. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
"When I think back to my days in school, one of the things I remember is how radically different my day-to-day experience was from what my parents and the adults around me thought my school was like. With that in mind, I asked several high school students to give me their views on HEC. Here are some of their thoughts:
- The environment is too restrictive and sometimes the teachers have unrealistic expectations of the students.
- I love going to lunch and going on outings.
- I like PE and Math and getting to spend special time with Carolyn.
- I hate school lunch and we can’t get seconds.
- I like having friends here, at my old school I didn’t have any.
- For the most part the staff are caring.
- I don’t like the ineffective rewards program and wish there were more shop classes.
- I like the teachers and how they help us.
- I hate Math!
- I like talking to Isom
- Jay, don’t put my name on this, but I think Mr. B is a really good teacher.
In talking with these students and reading their comments, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia…How important friends were, how important a teacher was, and why Sloppy Joe day was better than fish stick day.
Of course, the students at HEC are struggling with so many more issues than most of us ever did. But, ultimately, they want many of the same things, and I think that the teachers and staff at HEC have created an environment where that is possible. Go Hawks!"
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