Information for the Misinformed
February 12, 2020
There are a variety of platforms to read about the latest news. Lucky for our generation, we have phones with applications that notify us the second there’s a new celebrity scandal, what happened at the White House this morning, or what new fashion trends to follow. Naturally, there is the old-fashioned way of spreading the word with posters and signs as well. Lake Shore is no different, you will see the school Twitter blowing up with our latest accomplishments while the hallways are filled with endless posters.
Like any other social environment, there is always something going on at Lake Shore, and students and parents alike would like to stay updated on what’s happening.
Tasha Candela, the community director for the Lake Shore district, along with her high school interns, do a phenomenal job of keeping the district social media alive with news. You’ll always see one of them behind the scenes snapping a picture at any event, whether it be a basketball game or fundraiser, they are always there.
Along with the official district accounts that are run by Candela, there are also student-ran Twitter accounts such as The Shipyard, the Lake Shore student section account used for sport and any district updates, and class accounts used for each graduating class to put out information that pertains to their grade. These Twitter accounts are run by student congress officers.
Apart from the social media aspect, there is also a designated class called Principles of Leadership, taught by Robert Couck, government teacher and student congress advisor, which teaches students leadership skills by helping organize events and make posters with information about current events within our school.
If all these platforms weren’t enough, our media productions class puts together announcements every morning during homeroom that essentially repeats all the information that is already out there for students to know about.
However, even after using social media, posters, and even word of mouth, some students still feel as if they are ill-informed about what’s going on in school.
After conducting a poll, 61.5% of students felt that information is advertised to the maximum around Lake Shore, while 38.5% of students disagreed.
When asked in what ways could Lake Shore possibly improve the way they get information out to students and parents, students answered with the following: “Schoology updates/messages because some students don’t use Twitter or other social media platforms.”, “Our teachers physically telling us what is going on instead of assuming we know all the information, maybe emailing students information that they need to know or personally sending it out on Schoology.”, and “I overheard many students snowcoming week say that they enjoyed the Snapchat accounts that were made for updates. I think announcements should be used as a way to advertise, even if they’re end of the day over the speaker ones. Class meetings also help spread information.”
As one of the senior class advisors and student congress advisor, Couck has a fair amount of information to relay out to students. He explains that this year, more than any other year, he frequently overheard students saying that they never knew what was going on.
A solution Couck and the senior officers came up with was making a Schoology group with the entire class of 2020 that has everything from prom guest forms to the class song. Couck explains, “We wanted to make something everyone had and was easily accessible, so Schoology was the best way to go.”
To prevent any classes from feeling misinformed, Couck also made a Schoology group for the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen as well and hopes to even implement this at the middle school. His intentions are that by the time they get to high school, they know where to find any information that pertains to them and hopefully prevent this situation from happening again.
Regardless of how students feel about this issue, it is unfair to say that the information is not out there. The main problem is that some students don’t take personal responsibility to go out there and look for the information they need.
As someone who is in charge of putting information out there for everyone, it’s a little upsetting when people say that no one tells them anything. I speak for the other officers and myself when I say that if anyone ever has any questions to please come and ask us, about whatever it may be. If for some reason people do not feel comfortable reaching out to officers to ask, I strongly encourage students to ask their friends first or joining Twitter. If you aren’t a fan of social media, the next best thing I can suggest is listening to the announcements. If all of these options don’t work out, get in touch with your class advisor and see how you can get involved at school and help others get informed.