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Winslow High School (WHS) has implemented a program they call, “Raise the Bar.” The program is an intervention for all students at the school where each quarter, students rotate between teachers and are able to receive extra help in various core subjects, or, as in the case of Molly Jackson’s class, work on a capstone project.
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Assistant principal Deanna McKinney explained, “Our intervention program is designed to push all of our kids. Not just the ones who are struggling, or you know, the ones who are on the bubble and just need a little bit more help. The Raise the Bar program allows us to cater to the students who are already excelling as well.”
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Jackson’s second quarter Raise the Bar group consisted of 31 freshmen. She said, “I had the kids think of something that they wanted to see as a change in the community. They chose a citywide cleanup project.” Once the project was decided upon, Jackson split the class in to three groups. Each group took on a different area of Winslow to focus on.
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Group leader 15-year-old Aydon DeSpain said, “We were talking about making a difference in our city and we thought about how if there is less trash, there will be more pride in the city. Tourists will view and enjoy our town better, not just as a city full of trash. My group covered the schools and district owned properties, another group did downtown where The Corner is and the other group did some alleyways and neighborhoods.”
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Jackson added, “I think Aydon was inspired by the annual (Clear Creek) cleanup project. He was kind of the spearhead but all the kids did a great job.”
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Another group, led by Kaitlin Clark, 14, collected data during their cleanup time. “We did door-to-door surveys of residents in the neighborhood. We asked them about how they felt about the trash and litter in Winslow and if they would participate if we organized another cleanup. They basically all said that the Walmart and Maverick areas were the worst but that the alleys and downtown needed cleaning as well.”
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Besides cleaning up and collecting data, the students were also encouraged to discuss solutions to what appears to be an ongoing problem in Winslow.
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Aydon said, “Our solution was the cleanup, of course, but we also talked a lot about personal responsibility. We are hoping to get more people to stop and pick up the food containers, the drink cups, and anything else that is laying around. We are kind of more aware of what we can do to keep it clean. We also need to do a better job implementing cleanup days, and maybe having more trashcans throughout the city. To make it easier for people to throw trash away.”
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Fourteen-year-old Jhett Jue said, “Before I guess I didn’t really notice the trash, I was just sort of used to it. But now I notice it everywhere and all the time. I plan to keep picking up trash when I see it.”
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Jackson said, “Look at these kids, if they can recognize this problem and do something about it, we adults should feel convicted to do the same. All of the work that they were able to do four days a week, half an hour a day has been so impressive. They really had a plan, and they really took charge and made a difference. They are intelligent and creative and capable of doing so much.”
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Winslow City Council member Samantha Crisp added, “I know that I have been inspired after seeing these kids in action. I have been making active decisions to stop and pick things up more, and to implement some more ideas to clean up our community. Once people start seeing the pride being taken it is contagious and it will spread throughout our residents. By bringing our youth in to the conversation it will inspire even more people.”
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Aydon concluded, “The big part is the action. We can always talk and come up with ideas for things we want to do, but the hard part is implementation. We need to ask our student council to get involved and our City Council to help us get a citywide cleanup going. More action is what we need to see.”
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The data the students collected will be compiled in to a power point presentation to be presented to the Winslow City Council at a later date and to attendees at an Earth Week roundtable discussion. That roundtable, headed Crisp will take place at 5:30 p.m. today (April 24) at the Hubbell Building, located at 523 W. Second St. The public is invited to attend and to participate in the discussion.
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