Last Tuesday, five local high school students engaged the community in a panel discussion focused on keeping classrooms relevant to students' everyday lives and their future goals. Recorded live at the Community Broadcast Center, panelists presented a critical reflection of the standards modern students are held to and how they sometimes overshadow learning. 90.5 WESA's Life of Learning series focuses on learning and education activities, opportunities and challenges in the Greater Pittsburgh area.
Amma Ababio, for instance, voices concern about where -- and how -- schools and teachers place the emphasis on learning:
"So much of school is because of GPA, because you want to get into a good college for your GPA, because of the SAT test, and it detracts from learning. It detracts from actually learning material. It becomes 'How well can you memorize something in forty-five minutes? How well can you memorize something in two months?'" -- Amma Ababio
Panel: Relevance in Classroom Is Key
A group of students, educators, community members and activists joined the discussion with:
Amma Ababio, a senior at Allderdice High School
Jordyn Adams, a junior at Penn Hills High School
Senque Little-Poole, a senior at Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy
Alex Popichak, a senior at Carlynton High School
Alleah Rose, a senior at Barack Obama Academy -- International
