The articles below were all written in the past few months, the first two from the Daily Tar Heel and the last two from my high school newspaper, The Mycenaean, of which I was the editor-in-chief my senior year. The first two articles feel more akin to what I’m feeling now as a person who is invested in issues affecting me and the people around me, as well as national politics. But, the last two articles are the strongest of my high school career, deserve to be highlighted, and show my growth.
“With these increases in the cost of all on-campus housing, we would expect housing-related issues to improve. But the mounting $1.1 billion maintenance backlog is saying otherwise. As of Thursday, there were broken elevators in Morrison, expired drinks in the vending machines in Koury and structural issues in these buildings themselves. Since it seems the additional money isn’t going to the residence halls, it must go to the housekeepers or workers, right? Nope.” Read more here.
“Elected politicians should be held to the same expectations as the rest of us — the average retirement age in the U.S. is about 64, and more than half of our senators exceed this age. This should not be the case, and isn’t normal in most jobs.” Read more here.
“With a senior class of almost 600 people, there are many exceptional individuals at Leesville Road High School (LRHS) for the 2022-23 school year. Sydney Walker is one of those individuals.” Read more here.
“Teachers at Leesville and beyond have been retiring or quitting the profession at astronomical rates since 2020, leaving many issues for schools and school boards to cover.
Teaching has always been challenging: Little pay, long hours, and constantly having to stay on your feet.
The teacher shortage happening now has been a trend for years; the COVID-19 pandemic just exacerbated it. A 2018 poll estimate found that U.S. schools were around 100,000 teachers short, and it kept steadily decreasing.
COVID-19 caused many teachers to become stressed trying to teach their students online without cameras. Or in cohorts for just one semester. That and many other factors have caused a steep decrease in teachers nationwide.” Read more here.
