“I go to Freedom,” some students say with disgust. Yes, you do go to Freedom.
The lack of excitement about Freedom isn’t very complex in most cases; because students complain about Freedom, others complain about Freedom, and it creates a vicious cycle. In general, it is easier to point out the bad about any person, place or thing (we call these nouns). If every FHS student cared about our school and recognized all of the great attributes, Freedom would be a much better place.
No school is perfect. There are going to be flaws found in any school district. One great aspect about Freedom is our willingness to change. When something is wrong, our administration gives its best effort to correct the problem. In addition, we are surrounded by teachers that do their best every single day to prepare us for continuing our education. Several years ago, the block scheduling that we all know and love was put into effect at FHS. In order to do so, teachers had to be willing to change the set-up of their classrooms to teach more effectively over a longer period of time. The entire staff had to revamp their curricula so that the students would get more out of their time here at Freedom.
The major complaint about Freedom is not the faculty, but the students. It is those same students who are doing the complaining about other students and how Freedom is such a terrible place. There are some schools that have metal detectors lining the doors every day because of high crime rates. Other districts focus only on standardized tests, preventing students from learning in a holistic manner. As a whole, Freedom could be much, much worse. We are a small school, but we make the most of what we have, and when compared with other schools, we excell.
Freedom ranks 85 out of 676 schools in Pennsylvania when observing the following qualities: attendance, state testing scores, graduation rates and post-secondary enrollment rates. Though the administration is proud of this accomplishment, they will not stop trying to improve our school until Freedom is number one.
In addition, the current senior class improved its average SAT score by 107 points when compared with previous years. Not only do we now have one of the higher averages in our area, but this shows there is improvement being made to “just Freedom.”
As far as Freedom’s preparation for entering the real world, many graduates agree that Freedom prepared them for college.
“Freedom helped me understand what my motivations are so I can find a foothold when facing great challenges,” 2013 graduate Noah Marks said.
Marks, who is currently attending the University of Pittsburgh, gives a lot of the credit to the teachers at FHS. “Teachers and the environment encouraged introspection…[which] is vital to everyone. It helps you find something you’re passionate about and understand why you’re passionate about it.”
Like Marks, 2013 graduate Richelle Fuller gives a lot of the credit to her teachers.
“Some of the teachers also taught me more than they thought— not just class-related, but outside of class as well,” Fuller said.
It is important to realize that if life at Freedom isn’t exactly as you want it, you have to be willing to take on part of the responsibility. No one can force you to have a positive attitude about the school or can guarantee that you will become a millionaire simply because you went to Freedom. Students have just as much of a responsibility as the staff does.
“If you pushed yourself [at] Freedom, then you are prepared for college,” 2013 graduate Emilee Handyside said.
A major concern of many students is the current lack of Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered at Freedom. Though the numbers of these classes are expected to increase, Handyside feels the AP classes she was able to take helped to prepare her greatly for college.
“My roommate took a ton of AP courses in high school, but all of her tests were curved. When I got a ‘B’ on an [AP Calculus] test then I had a ‘B’. All of her tests would be curved to an ‘A’…I had to learn how to study, which is way more important than it seems,” Handyside said.
Though life is not always going to be easy sailing, Freedom does just as good of a job as any other school in terms of offering students the education they need to succeed.
“You get out of high school what you put into it,” 2012 graduate Emily Croll said. “Freedom did try to prepare us for college, but there really is no way that they could ever possibly prepare us for everything.”
Next time you hear “Freedom is such a terrible school,” ask that person what is so terrible about Freedom. Is it the wide variety of courses that they offer? Possibly, people view Freedom in a negative light because of how well they prepare students for post-secondary education. If that isn’t it, maybe students don’t appreciate all of the time and effort teachers and administration put into our success. As a whole, the student body needs to focus less on the negative and embrace all of the positive aspects about Freedom.