In May and November of 2010, 20 students, 8 organizers, and 8 school staff (including teachers, counselors and principals) from VOYCE visited 13 successful high schools in Minneapolis, Boston and New York City. Everyone came back from these visits energized about the possibilities for education justice in Chicago, as the youth leaders from KOCO describe below:
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Above: VOYCE students interview the college guides at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis.
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KOCO visited New York City on October 24-26 to visit three different high schools: Medgar Evers College Prep, Banana Kelly High School, and Thurgood Marshall Academy.
All three schools had high attendance rates, a different but successful discipline system, a student decision-making body, and teachers that encouraged students to the extent that students know what they need to do when they step in and out of school. We also observed that all students had a strong relationship with their teachers.
All of the students that we interviewed had pride in their voices. You could tell the connection that students have with each other because every student's story was actually the same, each student knew the purpose of why they were coming to school. At Medgar Evers, they are expected to complete all high school requirements by 9th grade and take college classes by 12th grade. The principal there believes that if you set high expectations for students then you will get high results, and if you set low expectations you will get low results.
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