Arts High School

On September 24, I went to Arts High School for my orientation to the fieldwork component of my Public Purposes of Education course, and, I have to say, it was exciting. I truly felt like I was in my element - having been born and raised in Newark, it always feels good to go back. I had heard wonderful things about the school and it did not disappoint. The school has a friendly student body and welcoming faculty that made me feel very comfortable there. I just loved the feel of the place, and it made me eager to get involved with urban public schools.

I think the most important part of the visit, for me, was the interaction with the teachers. Arts High School has a large percentage of fairly young teachers; in fact one of the English teachers just graduated from Montclair State University in the spring of 2006 or 2007. For the first time, it hit home that in a few short years, it will be my turn to get out there and look for a job; it was refreshing to learn that teachers really do get hired right out of college. At the same time, it makes me a little bit anxious – will I really be ready to be a teacher in three years? I sure hope so…

The teachers at Arts High were full of good advice and had insightful perspectives to offer. We broke up into small groups with the faculty to ‘pick their brains’; it was a great chance to ask important questions. The history teacher who my group talked to addressed one of my ‘burning questions’: how can you get your students interested in a subject matter they care nothing about? As a history teacher in an arts school, he understood my fears and talked about the strategies he used to incite interest from his students.

It may be a bit early for me, but his advice got the wheels turning in my mind. I think the mark of a great teacher is to find a way for every student to relate to the material. Another teacher said something that really hit home for me: “If you have 30 different students, you need to have 30 different methods of teaching.” It’s not enough to know what you’re teaching and to be passionate about it – you have to make the students interested.

In all, I enjoyed Arts High School. It got me thinking about my future as an educator, and about everything I need to learn before I get there. Although I am only at the beginning of my journey there, I cannot wait to become a teacher, and I am truly looking forward to my experiences at Arts this semester.