A (Mostly) Visual Update

Past, Present, & Future

In lieu of elaborate writing and verbose parables, tonight I have opted for an update composed almost entirely of images. And so it commences:

I returned from Spain last week. It was an enlightening, eye-opening, and extremely fun experience.

I apologize for the lack of updates. Like I’ve said before, I’m swamped with other commitments but I’m doing my best. The meeting, which I was unable to fully summarize before I left, was a success.

It was a milestone for all of us, and now that the expectation has been raised astronomically, I know that progress is anticipated.

In the meantime, between my return and now, I managed to send “thank you” e-mails to both the state and federal officials from the initial meeting. I hope to remain in contact with either one or both of them.

However I want to reiterate that I can not reach our goals by myself; I need the help of every concerned student. Do anything you can.

As for what is happening in the immediate future, I have the following information to relay. I will meet with various officials on Wednesday, along with a few other students, in order to discuss the problems of and suggest improvements for the actual software of our current portfolio system.

The future is bright, and I hope that more and more people associate themselves into activism as time goes on. I feel that together we can make a change and this is evidenced by the fact that we are in the middle of progress right now. Think about it – the regional representative from the federal Department of Education was at your high school discussing your issues.

The worst course of action for us as students to take would be to stop and become dormant. We must continue to increase our volume and continue to be heard. Remember, I am not alone, and I cannot solve this problem by myself. In fact, a solution will not come about without collaboration and cooperation between students of every background. One person can only do so much. Masses of people are required to truly make a difference.

A Brief Hiatus

A Summary of Current Events

Much has been transpiring as of late in the busy life of mine. We all need rest, though, and tomorrow morning, I will be fulfilling my proficiency in relaxation. As much as I would like to be able to write up a detailed report about my meeting on Monday, time is lacking, and I will have to hold off on that until I come back from my 9-day trip to Spain which begins tomorrow.

However, I will touch on that important event briefly. I can fathom a number of various descriptions for what occurred on Monday afternoon. Among them: a rare opportunity, a personal landmark, and a collective victory. Needless to say, it went well. Alas, legislative mandates are not reversed over the course of two hours.

More than anything else, I would call the meeting a good start, and a significant beginning point for a process that, as I have stated previously, will be a long one. Certainly, it was a positive and worthwhile experience for me. I learned a great deal, as I hope the other men and women there with me did as well. I remain optimistic and moreover, I have gained a newfound outlook for this movement that will become prevalent with time.

The night of the 20th is when I will come home, but my life will be no less hectic when I return from Europe, believe me. As a side note, I'd like to address the problem of the school's filter software regarding the blog, as expressed in a previous blog post. Thanks to a helpful friend, you may now access the site from school at this address: itsoureducation.mihopa.net

For now, I will leave you with a quote, for you to examine and muse over this vacation week. The quote is from historian, Howard Zinn, and it reads:

"One of the things we can learn from history is that history is not only a history of things inflicted on us by the powers that be. History is also a history of resistance. It's a history of people who endure tyranny for decades, but who ultimately rise up and overthrow the dictator. We've seen this in country after country, surprise after surprise. Rulers who seem to have total control, they suddenly wake up one day, and there are a million people in the streets, and they pack up and leave. This has happened in the Philippines, in Yemen, all over, in Nepal. Million people in the streets, and then the ruler has to get out of the way. So, this is what we're aiming for in this country. Everything we do is important. Every little thing we do, every picket line we walk on, every letter we write, every act of civil disobedience we engage in, any recruiter that we talk to, any parent that we talk to, any GI that we talk to, any young person that we talk to, anything we do in class, outside of class, everything we do in the direction of a different world is important, even though at the moment they seem futile, because that's how change comes about. Change comes about when millions of people do little things, which at certain points in history come together, and then something good and something important happens." (2006)

Student, Westerly High School

All it took for Uncle Sam to find me

…or at least that and my name. Thursday, the twenty-ninth of March seemed innocuous, harmless, the same as any other typical day of the week. First period passed, uneventful and uninteresting. Second period subsided, a testament to normalcy. I proceeded to plod across the walkway, teased by a guise of New England spring.

Barely through the door into my third period class, I was greeted by a message that I had been called down to the office. (I would later discover that I was called down as "Theodore J. Capaldi," the name with which I signed the letter) So, after dropping my books and jacket, I traversed downstairs to the principal's office, anxiety increasingly disrupting my demeanor. Confusion, apprehension, and uncertainty crept in with every step I took toward the office.

As I sunk down into the seat, I immediately noticed the school resource officer seated over to the left. All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind, yet I remained composed. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble," were the first words from the principal's mouth, lifting what felt like thousands of pounds from my shoulders. Still, the purpose of the visit stood unclear.

Right away she mentioned a letter to Senator Reed. Surely, she was referring to the letter that I had posted on this blog on the previous Monday night - the entry directly below this one. However, this baffled me, because I had not even mailed the letter at this point, and the idea that my school principal had been browsing my anti-PBGR blog seemed a bit farfectch'd.

Through the discussion that followed, the three of us in the office concluded that my letter had been unearthed by some government agency. (Editor's Note: In fact, however, we were wrong - the representative from the USDOE actually discovered it himself) The principal informed me that the the United States Department of Education (USDOE) had contacted the Superintendent of Westerly Public Schools regarding my letter. Furthermore, they had expressed interest in sending a representative to meet with me to discuss the contents of the letter, citing feelings that the letter was "well-written," but also that I may be "misinformed."

We agreed that this was a positive development. I told her that I was hopeful and optimistic for the meeting. In reality though, every single imaginable emotion overwhelmed me as I made my way back to class with a grin on my face and a skip in my step. This is to be expected when one is tracked down by one's government in less than 36 hours. This is the fact of the matter, though. Big brother is watching.

Tomorrow is the day. It is the day I will meet with the USDOE. I remain hopeful and optimistic. I know that I will not only be speaking for myself, but for the entirety of the student body, and all of Rhode Island's frustrated and concerned students. This will be the prevailing thought in my mind tomorrow. Although I see this as progress, and am equally excited as I am surprised that I have gotten this far, I am not one to count my chickens before they hatch. I do not expect any success to be instant, but I feel that exercising our first amendment rights and voicing our collective grievances is the greatest success we can all have.

The unprecedented support from students of every class, teachers, administrators, and other adults encourages me to carry on, and I appreciate it wholeheartedly. I find this quote from Voltaire very grounding, however:

"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."

By no means do I view the government as a grim and threatening force that will put down any subversive that plots against it. Nor do I see myself as any sort of radical subversive. Tomorrow represents the beginning of a culmination of all our efforts to make a change. Through compromise and a scrupulous consideration of the everyday realities, I hope that our tribulations will be realized tomorrow, and I will do my utmost to see that it happens.

Letter to Senator Reed

The Initiation of Interaction

My life continues to become more and more hectic, but I will do as best I can to keep up with this new feature. Below is a sample letter that I will be editing and sending off to Senator Jack Reed. Eventually, I will post letters to other important Rhode Island politicians.

I attempted to keep the letter to one page in order to be succinct and concise. I wouldn't want to ramble when I'm trying to keep the Senator's attention throughout the letter. I tried to be as comprehensive as possible, but surely that will improve as I write more letters. Moreover, I again encourage you to write letters or e-mails of your own to Senators and Representatives. (especially ones previously listed on the site) I hope that you will take a lead from my letters, but definitely integrate your own personal touch to your letters. Remember, every small piece counts.

But without further adieu, the first letter:

[Return Address]
[Return Address]
26 March 2007

The Honorable Jack Reed
201 Hillside Road, Suite 200
Cranston, RI 02920-5602

Dear Senator Reed:

As a teenager and high school sophomore in Rhode Island, I find it difficult to avoid constantly being bombarded by my education. It began early, remains prevalent today, and represents the foundation of my future. Like your website states, I agree that “education is the key to our economic future.” This fact remains legitimate on the individual, state, and nationwide levels. In that regard, I am both grateful and impressed to discover that you helped engineer a program that has contributed nearly one hundred million dollars to school libraries.

Rhode Island is a great state, and I am certainly proud to live within its borders. Still, it is not without flaws. The most widely sweeping reform in national education over the past several years has been No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Frequently, the press touts this legislation as President Bush’s signature domestic achievement. However, I beg to differ. In my experiences with the programs and policies brought on by this federal mandate, I have met not only frustration and disappointment, but most of all a sense of infidelity to tangible student needs.

Especially in Rhode Island, the problems in education have been miscalculated. Proficiency-based Graduation Requirements (PBGR) allocate augmented burdens of stress to high school students already pressed with an assortment of academic demands. Still in its developmental stages, this system strives to standardize the success of every high school student in the state through the ambiguous label of proficiency. On a scale of just 1 through 4, each student’s work is evaluated, with a three representing minimal required proficiency. Keep in mind these rubrics are graded subjectively by hundreds of different teachers around the state. It is hard to argue that the premiere work of an Advanced Placement student can be equated with the best of a College Prep student. Furthermore, proponents of this incomplete system deduce that the e-portfolio will benefit students in the future. Frankly, however, universities and employers will not sincerely browse an applicant’s 24, 48, or 72 artifacts. My peers and I feel strongly about this issue, and we collectively urge you to further research the subject and exercise influence to rectify the matter.

Respectfully yours,

Theodore J. Capaldi
Student, Westerly High School

A Hard Hitting Realization...

You know, it may seem like what we present within the depths of this blog are hard hitting. Well they should be. However, I have discovered one fact which I hope may impact your minds even more to getting up and doing something to stop the PBGR's. For the class of 2009, we will need 48 PBGR's. Many of those 48 will be hard to aquire throughout our highschool lives due to lack of experiance and a lack of technology which will work correctly.

Some rubrics, though, will be impossible to obtain. Getting 4 history rubrics will prove to be one of the most challenging. Throughout our highschool carrers already, we've had 2-3 history courses. In these history courses we've only recieved 2-3 rubrics and that will be the final amount which we do recieve. How then, will it be possible to graduate if the opportunity to gain these rubrics is not presented?

I believe that is one question which you must ask yourself, and what our administrators, school board, state representatives, and what our government needs to think about. The government is not implicating the PBGR's for the bettering of the students. No, they are implimenting them so that all students, no matter what their thought level, looks exactly the same except for the grades they recieve and their extra curriculars.

Why should the students, who are already trying their best, be forced to go above their maximum and have to deal with even more stress? Why should students, who are able to think at levels above their age, have to be brought down so that the emotional stability of those below them are not hurt?

Do not take me wrong, I feel for the students who do try their best in school and just try to maintain "good grades" while balancing out other stresses too. I am one of them, I am one of you. I already have enough to worry about than just PBGR's. They are a nusiance which will be the downfall of every single student if something is not done.

If you want to fail out of high school and become just another homeless person, than it's your choice. But if you'd rather graduate the way you were supposed to, without the PBGR's, and make it to a higher education, than action must be taken. No one person can do it alone. We must all pitch in, as a whole, and put a halt to the PBGR's. Together, there is nothing that can not be accomplished, so band together today, write to your representatives, and let your voice be heard...

Leave Your Opinions and Thoughts in the Comments Section...

Welcome to the Twenty-First Century

This is what you need to know…

You have the right to remain silent. Everything you decline to say will never be heard. You have the right to remain hidden. Everything you refuse to do will never be realized. You have the right to sit back and relax, and let others run your world. You have the right to adhere to broken principles and guidelines that are anything but constructive.

You have the right to change. You have the right to redress. You have the right to assemble. You have the right to speak. You have the right to act out against a government that does not fully understand the high school environment and the education process.

How do you have all these rights? Even as a minor, you are a U.S. citizen, and the Constitution along with its Bill of Rights and other Amendments apply directly to you. Just because you are under the age of 18 does not mean your rights can be violated. It’s up to you to know your rights and understand them, though.

Among these Amendments, all twenty-seven of them, is the First Amendment. If you are at all familiar with this Amendment, you may recognize it as the freedom of speech. However, it expands well beyond that. Specifically, (and for the purposes of this article) the document also states that the government, “shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech… or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” That government includes school districts, and thus we arrive at my dilemma.

I don’t know if any of you have tried to access “It’s Our Education” (IOE) from any of the Westerly Public Schools computers. What I do know is that no one has successfully done so. How do I know this? This blog is filtered – along with all other “blogs and messageboards” – by the district’s new security software system for its server. (Regardless of whether or not the blocks can be overridden by someone with the correct knowledge, it is the principle that is of importance here.)

In discovering this, I was understandably appalled. Surprisingly though, my grounds for indignation were by no means exclusively self-centered. As you may or may not be aware, some teachers at Westerly, mostly English teachers but possibly some others, actually use blogs - in some cases even this exact site - for school assignments, or at least they have in the past. This is an illogical connection. Somehow, a viable teaching instrument such as a blog is being electronically withheld from students within the walls of their learning facility. This utterly confounds me.

As for my rights (if you were concerned), they are in fact being violated, as the school is technically and extension of the government. Furthermore, I am actively pursuing an immediate solution, just as we are collectively here. Assuming that I am successful, you should be able to access the blog at school in the near future. However, this is but a small challenge, and many more will follow.

The struggle will undoubtedly trudge on indefinitely.

Remember, you have the right to remain silent. Whether or not you exercise that right is up to you.

A Testament to the Tribulations

An eventful day in my personal PBGR adventure.

“BEEEEEEEEP,” the bell rang and I left first period, embarking across the walkway in the bitter March cold. Fortunately, I survived the trek… somehow. It was a Wednesday – advisory day. Great! I would rant about that genius idea, but that’s for an entirely different blog.

I popped into 307, grabbed my graded work, and headed optimistically towards the computer lab in 222. Why was I optimistic for something I despise so? It was a perfect opportunity for some “research.” I situated myself at one of the shiny new computers. They were impressive. Then again, most school expenses are when they play an active role in government subsidy.

The scanners struck me as efficient as well. Certainly, they were efficient wastes of time and funding. But this is all beside the point. Why talk about the hardware, when there is so much to say about the software? Ironically, I know my way around the e-portfolio pretty well. I navigated to the site and logged in quickly, before anyone else had even pulled up Internet Explorer.

A new look greeted me as I found my way around the site. Everything seemed fine. Then, all the other 20-something students in the class started logging in. I tried to pull up my work, and molasses nearly started oozing from the monitor of the computer.

The confusing username/password system bamboozled students. If they can’t even log on at this point, what hope does the system have? Frankly, not much. Trying to explain the sudden slow-down, the supervisor for the period who labeled himself as, “just a science teacher who knows how to work the system,” (extremely official, I know) said there was probably just something being changed on the site, but it was obvious to anyone with more than half a brain that it was simply struggling with the spike in traffic.

Reluctantly, I did lower myself to uploading a single rubric. *gasp* Enough cynicism though. Let’s be serious.

When the 40 minutes were up, nearly 10 students uploaded nothing, and only a couple fewer failed to even gain access to their portfolio. That is not a very good percentage, especially considering the lack of guidance available and the rarity of openings for the scarce number of computer labs around the campus. Surely, this is a testament to the grim reality of the PBGR situation at Westerly, and judging from my inquiries of students in other computer labs, it was not a unique experience. Time is running out. Something needs to change.

Have any of you out there reading experienced similar situations? Maybe you can touch on something I missed, or just relate.

Talk back and be heard in the comments section.