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I attended school at the Henry Ford Academy, or HFA for short. It
is a public charter school for the residents of Wayne County, MI.
The Academy has about 400 students, 100 for each grade. One of the
most unique things about the school is that it places a great emphasis
on learning through technology and real life experiences. While in
high school I did a number of assignments and projects using Microsoft
PowerPoint and other computer applications. In addition, many of our
teachers were relatively young when compared to typical teachers.
The school was also placed on a very special campus. Henry Ford Academy
is located on the grounds of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield
Village. This unique environment lent students a great deal of resources
for their daily tasks. But no matter how distinctive the school was,
it shared a common bond with other high schools; Henry Ford Academy
definitely had both its ups and downs. One of the greatest things about the Academy was that it was focused a great deal on post-high school preparation. My last two years at HFA were filled with activities to help me determine which direction I should take after high school. These activities included personality tests, interest tests, and activities in which we explored possible career fields. Aside from these, we also participated in various assignments that had a direct real world application. For example, most of the students at HFA had already prepared a resume by the 10th grade. On top of that, we were assigned to undergo mock job interviews throughout our high school tenure. Theses activities and assignments helped students realize what path they should take after graduation. Another advantage of going to the Academy was the talent of the teaching staff. The teachers of HFA were great at educating young people. Many on the instructors used unique methods for teaching their classes, thus making class interesting and fun. For instance, in my Contemporary Literature class, we analyzed songs from different time periods to get a "feel" of the environment of that specific time. The fact that a young teaching staff could conduct assignments such as this and get great participation from the class is a testament to their abilities. The staff was also great at assessing their students' individual learning styles. With this knowledge, the teachers could fit their teaching style to best suit the students. This allowed the instructors to better understand their students, and it made the students feel that teachers actually cared about teaching. For many students, the realization that teachers were there to help made us students try harder in class.
Finally, the Academy's proficient use of technology as a learning tool was an advantage for students. During high school, we were taught how to properly use computers and other technology to help strengthen our work in school. This process started in the 9th grade, in a class that taught students how to care for and how to use laptop computers. In the 11th grade, we were allowed to take our laptops home for personal and school use. There were almost no limits for how technology can help enhance our learning experience. For many presentations, I used Microsoft PowerPoint as a visual aid. For my numerous research projects, the Internet and research CDs provided me with a lot of help. And almost all of my final essays were written in Microsoft Word. There is doubt in my mind that learning at the Academy was enhanced with the assistance of technology. But just as with other schools, there were some cons to attending Henry Ford Academy. The first was that there were little to no social events for the students of the school. This may seem like a trivial complaint, but it really had an effect on the student body. Without any get-togethers at school, there was really no incentive to do well. Many schools have sports teams they can get behind or have dances on a regular basis. HFA was a different story. Outside of the senior prom, we had one dance a year. Even though we appreciated the academic quality of the Academy, we felt cheated out of the social times that other high school students had. Another disadvantage of attending HFA was that there was poor school spirit. This was most likely caused by the lack of social events that I noted above. In a typical high school, I have observed that many students have a connection with their school. Students of these high schools may wear varsity jackets and crowds of people have been known to show up for homecoming football games. At Henry Ford Academy, I never had those pleasures. Since there really were no social events to get excited about at school, the pupils of HFA never really had school spirit. Again, having a good sense of school spirit and having an incentive to do well motivates many students to perform better than usual. We lacked that incentive. Attending a school that was very much in the public eye was also a drawback. I sometimes felt as if I were under a microscope at school. There were many times when very important people would come to observe the daily happenings of HFA. These people included executives from Ford Motor Company, newspaper and television reporters, and people looking to start a new charter school. These sporadic visits had a negative effect on students. Honestly, when students are outside of their classes, we're like other teenagers. We want to be goofy and have a little fun, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. When these important people made their presence in the school setting, students were continuously reminded of the way they should act…even during our free time. This put a lot of pressure on me and the rest of the student body. I felt as if I had to conform, and that I couldn't act like a regular high school student. This is unfair to students, and it was something I really disliked about Henry Ford Academy. Finally, I truly felt that I lacked a voice at the Academy. There were a number of issues that many students tried to fight for, such as having a looser dress code, off-campus lunches for seniors, and more social activities for students. Almost all of our attempts to make amendments to our school policies were met with a resounding "no." I understand that some requests simply cannot be met. Still, when most of the student body wants changes to be made, there should be some attempt to make those changes. There was no such attempt, and this is disheartening as a student. It made us feel as if we had no say in the business of the school, even if our demands were logical. This feeling gave us a sense that we were alienated from our school, which is obviously not a desired feeling. Even though Henry Ford Academy had its share of downsides, I believe my time at high school was time well spent. I had many friends at school, kept up my good grades, and generally had a good time. I understand that many things could have been done differently in high school to make it better. Yet, I also understand that my high school experience was probably better than others. When I look back at my time at Henry Ford Academy, I realize that it was the right school for me. I'm currently attending the University of Michigan, and a big part of that is because of the education that HFA gave me. I hope that future charter schools take into consideration the pros and cons that I reflected on. I hope that other people can have the same high school opportunity that I had.
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