As a student at Kennedy, coming to school every day and spending most of your day on campus could leave some thought for improvement.
With May being our last full month in school and the school year coming to a close, students around were asked what Kennedy could improve on. Whether it be the classes available, more staff.
According to student Jerelle Gus and Mia Montez, it seems like an occurring problem is the cleanliness of the school.
“I think our school could improve on more trash cans,” Gus said. “Because I noticed that there’s been a lot of littering, so I think more trash cans could help.”
“I feel like the school could improve on the school bathrooms and participate in cleaning up the floors of the place,” Montez said. “And, you know, just the dirtiness of the school.”
More importantly, Kayley Thao was asked about their academic experience at Kennedy.
“My academic experience at JFK is okay,” Thao said. “50% of it is really stressful and it kind of sucks because you know some classes are too hard. The other 50% is okay because some of the classes are nice, some of the people are nice and some teachers actually help you. If you have questions, they don’t ignore you. I think the elective choices are nice and they’re actually pretty good. I feel like they have a good variety for students to explore whatever different interests they have.”
As much as classes could be stressful and overwhelming, there could be that one elective class that you can have fun in like ceramics, culinary, or autoshop. Having electives that students are interested in are important so students not only participate in them, but could also set them up for success in their future.
Mia Montez is also asked about what electives she would like to add to Kennedy.
“If I could add an elective, I would want to add an elective where you could like study on your career,” Montez said. “People could come in and teach you classes you’re going to be taking and like just a hands-on experience with the career that you want to go on and like, you know, in the future,”
Such experiences have already been discussed by most economics teachers with their 5 year plans, draft resumes and cover letters. Some English teachers have also made projects to help navigate interviews and find out what career you want. There are also some college workshops the counseling office hosts.
As many things that Kennedy could improve on, there are things that students appreciate that Kennedy does well. Kayley Thao cites leadership opportunities and scholarship positions as one of them.
“I think JFK has really good opportunities for student leadership and student scholarships,” Thao said. “Some students are encouraged to take initiative and I think that’s good.”
Even though Kennedy has many things it could improve on, the students here can appreciate Kennedy while still wanting it to be the best it can. With getting students opinions on how Kennedy could be better, we can hope that changes can be made for the better.
