Interview with 9 yr. old Asean Johnson on Chicago school closings

Wesleyan

When I got into Wesleyan, it wasn't as exciting as I expected it to be. I wanted to yell and shout that I got in to all my friends and family back home, but no one knew what Wesleyan was or it's eliteness. Most people at home only know about the Ivy League schools and if you didn't get into one, you were just going to another regular school. Although I'm a first generation, college was never important to my parents. I've always been the one to push and challenge myself academically. Now that I'm at Wesleyan I'm able to reflect on my past educational experiences and see how certain decisions changed the outcome of my life. If any one of these steps didn't happen I could've been in Chicago, with a teen pregnancy, on foodstamps, like many of my old friends. It's sad to see how schooling can change the course of your life. I believe that a lot of youth in Chicago that have incredible potential are stuck in a cycle of complacency with life because the schools systems on the south side of Chicago aren't doing their jobs at helping kids become successful. A lot of kids don't know what success is for people who look like them because everywhere they turn, everyone's struggling. The only way we are going to break the cycle is by addressing all the issues in the school systems. Lack of funding, violence, and the lack of resources are only a few things that need to change before the lives of Chicago black youth does.

College Process

I knew the college process was going to be stressful because where I went depended on money. During the college process, I thought that I would be a strong applicant, but my ACT and SAT's said otherwise. I remember feeling defeated after seeing the scores the schools I wanted to apply to required and the scores I had. That's when my college counselor told me that scores didn't really matter for "people like me". That because I had made it to Loomis, I was already at a higher advantage than other black kids my age. She told me that schools would look at my background and understand that I was not as privileged as other students who got SAT/ACT prep for years and can take the standardized tests as many times as they wanted. Although I knew she said all those things to encourage me to see myself as a strong applicant with a unique background, it only made me feel angry. I was angry that I wasn't smart enough to catch up and surpass my peers in the 4 years of high school, I was angry that schools would be looking at me as a charity case, and I was angry that I was in this perpetuous cycle where I felt like no mattered how hard I worked I was always 3 steps behind my more privileged peers.

Loomis Chaffee

I remember how hard I had to fight to convince my mom to let me go to Loomis, little did I know, I was in for a major shock. When I arrived at Loomis I immediately felt out of place. The way I spoke, dressed, and wrote, were so different than a lot of my peers. I felt out of place the first day of school. I was at a lunch table filled with white kids when the subject changed to SSAT scores. Everyone went around the table saying their scores: 95%, 87%, 99%, 83%. When It came to me, I responded with "oh I don't remember mine". That was the first in a long time that I felt like I was the dumbest one in the room. Although Loomis did a lot to make sure everyone felt comfortable and well prepared by offering tutoring, I knew I was behind.

Usually when freshman come in they start with Algebra 2 Trigonometry. This class wan't taken until at least junior year in high school where I'm from. I tried my hardest to stay in the class, I had tutors, met for extra help, but I couldn't catch up. My teacher suggested that I move down to Algebra 1 (A1). At Loomis, A1 was known as a class for the dumb kids essentially. It was for people who couldn't pass math/ needed to built their understanding of Algebra. I spent half a semester failing Algebra 2 before I finally allowed myself to move down to A1. Taking A1 has a way of making people feel inferior. Other kids would brag about how they were in Geometry advanced as a freshman, when I couldn't even survive the regular classes. With time I gained my confidence back in the classroom and not only catch  up in math, but doubled in math sophomore and senior year as well.

How I Became a Pelican

When 8th grade rolled around, it was time to start thinking about high school. I naturally thought hat I would follow in my siblings footsteps and continue my 4 years at Kenwood. MetroSquash had a different plan for me. They began introducing the idea of boarding school to one student who was 2 grades above me, two years prior. His name was Joseph. MetroSquash sought out the academically competitive students in the programs and encouraged the idea of boarding school. They provided test prep for the SSAT (an exam made for boarding schools), transportation to boarding schools fairs, and helped convince parents to consider the option. Joesph was the first student from MetroSquash to attend a boarding school , Hotchkiss. The year after him Yazmyne went to Choate, and that's when it came to my year. My year was the creme of the crop. There were so many "qualified" students  from my grade who had the chance of getting into boarding school (8 in total). I would say that I took the most convincing to apply to boarding school. I was perfectly fine with the life I lived in Chicago. The only thing that changed my mind was when my coach Max bet me that if I got into Loomis Chaffee (his alma mater) he would buy me a new squash racket of my choice.

When it was time to take the SSAT, there were only four students that still entertained the idea of boarding school. MetroSquash told us that scoring at least in the 15th percentile was great. Schools like the ones we were applying to "understood that we were disadvantaged compared to the majority of students applying as well". So when I scored in the 36th percentile, I was ecstatic. The others scored in the 45%, 13%, and 9%. Later I was excepted into Loomis Chaffee, which I would say is the most significant turning point in my educational career.

Squash

Squash changed my life. The first time I was introduced to squash was from my 6th grade friend Nubia. Nubia convinced me to join her at this after school program she attended called "MetroSquash". MetroSquash was a non-profit organization whose main goal was to bring squash, a typically white preppy sport, to low income communities. There were programs like this all over the country: Detroit, New York, New Haven, and San Diego just to name a few.  This non-profit provides free squash rackets, shoes, transportation, plane tickets, tournament fees, and more! Nubia told me that MetroSquash was half academics and half squash. While half the group went to the courts to play, the other half stayed and did homework, got tutoring, etc. This was the first time that I was in an environment where my grades mattered. MetroSquash always wanted midterm grades and report cards. You had to maintain a C- average in order to be eligible to go to tournaments. I remember telling Nubia "fine, if I go I'm only gonna do my homework. Nobody's trynna play no squash." About a week passed of me going to Metrosquash and doing my homework until Nubia finished with practice. That's when my first coach, Max, approached me and said "You can't just sit here and do you're homework. You have to at least try to get on court". The next day I did, and the rest is history.

Kenwood Academy

When I got accepted into Kenwood's Academic Center (AC) program I was overjoyed. My sister had graduated from there, I had a brother who was a senior, and another who was a freshman there. The AC was made up of 80 7th graders and 100 8th graders. The students there attended the high school classes and received credit towards early graduation. Kenwood was a step up in a good direction, at least in the academic center. Kenwood itself use to have a reputation for being one of the most successful selective enrollment schools on the south side of Chicago. When it became a neighborhood school, it invited the neighborhood kids into the school as well. Hyde Park, the neighborhood Kenwood is in, is a divide between wealthy white folks, and poor low income black folks. When Kenwood became a neighborhood schools, all of the "bad" kids that use to be forced to go to terrible schools like Bowden and CVS were now allowed to attend Kenwood. The influx of black kids resulted in students and teachers leaving the school. Kenwood lost a lot of funding and eventually the teachers went on strike. Students were the people most effected by the change  in direction Kenwood was taking. Despite everything going on, my educational experience was a pretty good one. I know that going to Kenwood got me further ahead and that the opportunity I got is offered to so few that it's ineffective in the larger scheme of things. Overall my 7th and 8th grade years at Kenwood were great experiences. My educational experiences u to that point combined with my unique identity and my drive for success made me slightly more appealing to high schools than some of my peers.  

Muskegon Ave

My father lived on Muskegon Ave. If you know Chicago, you know that's the hood. Abandoned houses, drive bys, drug dealers living next door, the whole nine yards. My bother and I returned to Kozminski. It never changed. The demographics, the structure, the education, nothing. When I moved back to Chicago, everyone thought I was a genius. For the first time since I left Chicago, I was the smartest kid in class again. Back then I was always happy and proud of my grades. Reflecting back I now see the problem in knowing so much more I knew than my peers. I would argue that I didn't necessarily work harder than a lot of the other students in my class. I was just more advantaged because I spent a few years in a more privileged school systems (in FL). Since I was a bit older at the time, I knew that if I stayed at Kozminski my education would be stunted. I was never challenged, teachers were more concerned with punishing misbehaving students than teaching, and I know that I needed to be better prepared if I didn't want to go to my neighborhood high school. That's when I remembered Kenwood Academy, a school that all my siblings attended, had an accelerated program for 7th and 8th graders. In 6th grade students from all over Chicago were able to test for the 100 spots in the program.

Slavery?

The first day of class I knew something was off. When I walked in and sat at my desk , I watched the door as students trickled in. White kid after white kid, with the occasional latino walked in. The bell rang, everyone sat down, and that's when I realized I was the only black person in the class. M most memorable experiences at Clark was when one day my teacher Ms. Compton approached me and asked "Hey Sherly, for our next chapter we're supposed to teach slavery. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with that, if not, we can just skip this one." I respond  unsure, "sure, I guess it's cool". The next day I waited for her to present our lesson on slavery, but she didn't. A week passed, then a month, and I realized that she decided to skip it anyways. Now I ask myself: How could Clark Academy, a predominately white school with so many resources and opportunities and experiences, have failed me as a student? Although I learned a lot of great things there, I never had a chance to learn about my identity. 

The next year I joined my brother at Benito and I was even more mind blown. Benito had everything. Every extra curricular activity you can think of, an extensive language program, sports teams, small class sizes, school buses that picked you up from home; all things I've never had before. My time at Benito was short lived when my brother and I returned to Chicago to live with my father in the middle of 6th grade. 

The Bay

After my fourth grade year at Bright, my mom announced that she would be taking my brother and I with her to Tampa, FL to live with her new boyfriend. I remember my brother and I being devastated to leave Chicago, jealous that my other siblings got to stay, and nervous to start my life somewhere new. The first thing that I noticed when I arrived at my new home was that it was in a gated community filled with townhouses. I saw so much diversity and was excited to live a better lifestyle. I loved that I was in a community with so many people who looked like me. My most memorable experience of Florida was the education I got there. I went to an elementary school called Clark Academy which ran kindergarten-5th grade, while my brother attended Benito Middle School, which ran 6th-8th grade. Since I was in 5th grade in and he was two grades above me, we always attended school together until this point. My first day at Clark was the first time I saw so many white people. I was shocked, amazed, curious, and angry, all at the same time. I remember not knowing how to act and trying to replicate the way I heard white people talked on TV. Clark had things that just astounded me. A library, clean bathrooms, a health center, track team, you name it! I didn't know how far behind I was in the classroom until I got to  Clark. To say I struggled at the beginning was an understatement. That was the first time I realized how privileged kids were in some schools while others were struggling. I didn't make the connection between education and race until much later in life.

ISAT

I remember being a student at Bright and being told that my only goal was to at least meet the standards on the ISAT test. The the ISAT (Illinois Standards Achievement Test) was an assessment given to all students in Illinois. Starting in 3rd grade, students are tested on what the state thinks the child should know by that point in their academic careers. Students are tested on reading and math skills 3rd-8th grade then additionally tested in science in 4th and 7th. The scoring is separated into 4 categories: Exceeds the standards, meets the standards, below the standards, and academic warning. My teachers always stressed how important meeting the standards were because if you didn't, you'd be forced to attend summer school and with the possibly of repeating the grade. I remember it being a miracle if someone at the Bright exceeded the standards in any subject. When I started taking the ISAT test, I was one of the few students who exceeded the standards in all the ISAT subjects. To encourage students further, my school offered $50 bonds to students who exceeded the standards in the ISAT. Even with the new incentive, the overall scores of the school did not improve. Looking back now, I think the problem roots from the instability of schools on the south side of Chicago in predominately POC neighborhoods. Bright was in one of the rough neighborhoods in Chicago, right across the streets from "the projects" (low income housing). I believe that because of the lack of after school programs due to the budget cuts of public schools in Chicago, students are forced to the streets. At a very young age, it would be safe to say that one could be influenced by many dangerous outside sources.

Phase Two

After leaving Kozminski, my family and I moved about 20 minutes away to "the hundreds". The hundred's was a range of blocks starting with the 100 streets spanning all the way to 199th.  There I went to a school named O.T Bright from 1st-4th grade, once again a predominately black school. What made my neighborhood so unique was that it consisted of so many different groups. 2 dominate gangs: GD's on the block to my right and Vice Lords on the block to my left; a police station about three blocks away, a park across the street from my house, and my school 5 blocks away. With such a diverse community came chaos, especially within the school system. O.T Bright was already a school that struggled financially. The classrooms each had at least 35 kids per teacher, the schools gave out suspensions like hall passes, and our school never had the necessary materials to support students (textbooks, counselors, financial assistance for transportation, etc). When you factored in all the gang activity and violence to a school that is already struggling academically, it becomes dangerous. Students fought other students, teachers, security guards, you name it. There were so many gun threats that even kindergarteners knew the lockdown drill.

The Beginning

My name is Sherly Francois and I was born and raised on the southside of Chicago. I was the youngest of 5 in a low income family, so I expected to follow the same path as my siblings. As a kid I thought that we all were going to go to the same schools, have the same teachers, and go through the same educational experiences; which happened for a while. I remember starting kindergarten at Kozminski on 51st, I lived right across the street from the school at the time. Back then Kozminski seemed normal to me. The fact that the swings were always broken, security guards always roamed the hallways, the school was made up of 97% black people, and kids fought everyday afterschool with our neighboring rival school was just the way school worked. Even in kindergarten, I noticed that our school never had smart boards or computers, I knew which streets to avoid walking down, and I knew why I wan't allowed to go play outside after school was over. I didn't learn until later on in life that Kozminski was one of the most neglected/under appreciated schools that I'd ever attend.

Sentimental

Black people who attend a Chicago Public School on the southside of Chicago are less likely to be successful because schools are neglected and ignored, which systemically perpetuates the cycle of black oppression in Chicago. I became interested in this because as I’ve reflected on my past educational experiences, I realized that my life could have turned out so much differently if I had stayed at my neighborhood high school at home. Back at home, there was an obvious divide in school systems. The north side consists of predominately white public schools where they are well funded and their students go off to the best colleges, while on the south side, there are initiatives on how to keep the black youth in school instead of dropping out of high school. Going to school on the southside limits your potential because of the lack of funding, support, and opportunities.. Chicago has one of the highest murder rates in the country and I believe that it is because of the divide and corruption of Chicago’s education system. In this blog I will talk about my educational experiences and support, with facts, how my educational choices changed my life.