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Monday, June 17, 2013

Rising to the Occasion: A Call for Students and Teachers Alike Student Voice

Student Voice:

Rising to the Occasion: A Call for Students and Teachers Alike

Spencer Dupont
About the Author: My name is Spencer Dupont. I’m a 16-year-old junior who’s spent his entire life in the Deep South. I was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, but moved to Lafayette, Lousiana, with my family when I was a young child. I have lived here with my brother and my mother for most of my life. I write poetry in my free time and enjoy writing music, while essays consume a small portion of my free time.
My name is Spencer Dupont. I’m a 16-year-old student of the Lafayette Parish School System in Lafayette, Louisiana. I’ve spent a large part of my life attending the public schools here; growing older, I’ve noticed more and more flaws in the educational system. The fault of many of these flaws lies with both teachers and students. I’ve seen both teachers who failed to teach and students who went out of their way not to learn, regardless of the teacher’s efforts. There has to be a collaborative effort to get anything truly accomplished. We have to have teachers that want to teach, and can get students excited enough to learn. We must also, however, have students make the effort to actively engage in the learning environment.
I have had teachers who exhibited exemplary teaching approaches. They treated students with respect, working with student’s varying strengths to help them succeed. Instead of forcing students to listen with the threat of punishment, they worked with the students to help them find the drive within themselves. I have seen teachers like this, and I’ve seen the students who have tried to exploit the trust given by these teachers. In order for faculty to continue to use trust and respect in their method of teaching, students must honor that effort as a