Editorial

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Editorial It Is About Time We Make a Game Plan This year Varela found itself in a deeper ditch than it was in last year. With enrollment still in a downward spiral and the school about to enter a new age where competition is required, it just wasn’t the right time for the school to get a “C” grade. Administration is implementing changes to combat the grade problem and teachers are changing their curriculum, while it is time for another group of people to step up and start to help out. We are obviously talking about the student body and its “I don’t care about this school” attitude. There are currently two organizations helping with our school’s ever-expanding problems, these groups being Fin’s Forum and the Student Council. The purpose of Fin’s Forum and the Student Council is to better the school through the interactions of designated student representatives and administration. The sad fact is that in the eyes of most they are not fulfilling this purpose. The most Fin’s Forum has done for this school is paint the cafeteria/walls and create READ posters to encourage students to read more. The most the Student Council has done is help raise funds for school-wide activities, including social events, community projects, and helping people in need. While these things are great in their own way, students in these groups are not taking advantage of the tools that they have. The students of Fin’s Forum have the principal’s undivided attention for about an hour in which they can bring up concerns about curriculum and special programs that would benefit the educational needs of the student body. The Student Council has the power to get meetings with the entire administration to create ways for more student involvement in those special programs. They could be using this unique access that they have to talk about the real changes that need to be made to this school. By change, we mean things that will make us truly competitive with schools in the surrounding area. This means finding ways to build and fund electives,

creating and strengthening magnet programs, and helping expand the award-winning academies we have here. While painting the walls and adding some new computers is a nice superficial touch, the real change happens under the “pretty” exterior and interior of the school. The real change is affecting the amount and types of classes students take and the way students think about their education here at Varela. It is time for student reform to happen at this school, or we are just going to be caught in the shadow of ever-expanding schools like John A. Ferguson Sr. High School. We, as students of Varela need to start caring about the place that prepares us for the future and the place in which we spend most of our days, and four years of our lives. It is time for us to start making meaningful change in this place most of us call home.