Initial Interview - Brittany Date of Interview: Monday, 11-13-06 Time of Interview: 5:55 – 6:25 pm Location: Paul Public Charter School - Library Subject Name: Brittany Interviewer: Nichole Stewart (RA Dierdre Williams) Interview Questions: Part I - Biographical 1) Tell me about your family 2) Tell me about your neighborhood 3) Where do you go to school? Please describe. 4) Tell me about your teachers 5) Do you do well in school? How so? How were your grades? 6) Is there anything you would want to change about your school? Your teachers? Part II - Programmatic 7) Have you ever been in a program like this before? If so, tell me about it. 8) Tell me about the Higher Achievement Program 9) Why did you want to participate? 10) Do you think there are any benefits to being in the Higher Achievement program? 11) Describe the HAP “Culture”. What do you think of the Culture Constitution? 12) Tell me about Ms. Aishah and Ms. Andrea 13) Tell me about your mentors 14) Describe the perfect mentor 15) Do you know what you want to do when you get older? Future goals/plans? Setting Dierdre and I settled into an empty section of the Paul library at about 5:45 pm. Across the way in another library section, the 8th grade HAP students were participating in their Follow- Through workshop and were making a significant amount of noise. Ms. Andrea had to send a student to quiet them from further down the library hall in the computer lab, where several HAP students were completing assignments via computer. We were alone in our section of the library, shielded from outside eyes by bookshelves loaded with books. There were several round tables, each with four chairs, throughout the area, and a teacher’s desk sat at the front of the section. It was an ideal place for an interview – private yet still easily accessible. I went to get Brittany from the computer lab at 5:55 for our interview. Brittany was a 12 year old African American girl with a dark caramel complexion, and wore a Paul uniform of a white shirt, blue skirt, and black shoes. She wore a blue sweater over her white top. She was of average height, coming about to my shoulder, and had a slim build. She had her hair pulled back in a pony tail, but several strands had come loose throughout the day and now it looked a little messy. Overall, she is a cute, gregarious girl who smiles often. As we settled in the library together, Brittany seemed calm and comfortable, smiling shyly at me as she waited for me to begin. I and Brittany sat facing each other at one table, and Dierdre sat at the next table observing and taking notes. I introduced Brittany to Dierdre, and we began the interview. Interview Transcription N: Ok…now just to start off…You are kind of the expert in this situation, because I want to know what your experiences are. So there are no right or wrong answers. It’s whatever you feel and whatever you think and whatever your opinions are. B: Ok… N: And feel free to say whatever you want to say. This isn’t for Higher Achievement. This is for the University of Maryland. Ok? B: Ok… N: Ok…First I want you to tell me a little about yourself. Like umm…You’re in the…what grade? B: 7th N: And you attend…what school? B: Paul Public Charter School N: And….You live with your… B: Mom and dad…and sisters and cousin… N: You live with…How old is your sister? B: (thinking) Ummm…My older sister is 17 and my little sister is 4. N: And your cousin is… B: (thinking) How old is he…?? N: She’s gonna be made that you don’t know how old she is! B: It’s a he… N: Oh a he… B: He works at the hospital. N: So he’s older? B: Yeah…he’s like 30 something.. N: Ok…And what do your parents do? B: My dad…He works as a security guard at night on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and then in the morning he works on the bus to make sure that kids get off… N: Like school buses? B: Yeah…And my mom works at National Academy and she sells books and things. N: To the schools? B: To the schools and to people outside…like novels and stuff N: Tell me about your…well tell me about your neighborhood. Where do you live? B: On the 700 block of Quincy street. It’s sort of clean there and I like it. My next door neighbor is fun. She let’s us call her Ms. ? (2:14) N: Ms. ? B: Yeah, because she’s Spanish and she’s a grandmother. She has a dog named Gizmo that I used to be scared of, but when I went in there house…um…when I went in their house the dog would sniff me and stuff and one time when I was sick she had me come in the house and made me some rice and chicken…some Spanish food. N: Ohh…was it good? B: Yes… N: How big was the dog? B: It’s like (indicated about 8 inches off of the table) that big… N: Oh…so he’s a little dog N: Are most of your friends from school or do you have some in your neighborhood B: Most of my friends are from school…and some of my friends are my older sister friends. N: Ok, tell me a little bit about Paul…about your school. B: Paul is ok…like if you come in late... then you have tardy hall after school for…from 3:40 to 4:20 which is like 40 minutes. N: Umm Hmmm…Do you know that personally? (laughing) B: (laughing shyly) Yes… N: Are you late a lot B: I’ve been there a lot. Then I started coming on time and I haven’t been there in a couple of weeks. N: Ok, you’re making progress…What do you like most about Paul? B: What I like most is my Spanish class… N: Really? B: Yes, because she’s fun and she doesn’t write everybody up for little stupid things… N: What would you like to change about Paul? B: Better lunch… N: What about your teachers? Tell me about your teachers. (3:58) B: Well…My 4th period teacher Mr. ?? That’s my Pre-Algebra teacher. He sometimes get on my nerves. One time he wrote me up for being late. N: Ummm hmmm B: And then….Ummm… Another thing I would change…(thinking) Is like…for us…during lunch and MERIT time…to have like 15-30 to do computers instead of eating lunch and then sitting in the auditorium reading a book for like 15 minutes… N: So when you finish your lunch you have to go to the auditorium? B: Yes…Like for 7th graders…some people have MERIT time first while the other 7th graders have lunch first. Then once the 7th graders come from lunch and go to MERIT, the people from MERIT go to lunch…and they’re both 7th grade classes. N: So the people in MERIT time are in the auditorium reading and doing homework? It’s like a study hall? B: Yeah…well actually…not like study hall…they just read those books…independent reading books and that’s all. And you get in trouble if you not readin’ that book or if you’re looking into space or something. N: So you don’t like to read during that time? (She shook her head)No? Do you like to read at all? B: I like to read. I just don’t like to read when everything’s silent. N: Ok…Tell me about your other teachers. (5:28) B: My Spanish teacher’s real fun. N: Ok… B: I had a A in her class (N: You did!?) on my Progress Report N: How did you do on your Progress Report in all of your classes? (Interrupted by an announcement on the intercom asking a female student to come to the office) B: I hate her (I made shocked noise) B: Well not hate but I just dislike her… N: Why!? B: She call names and always talkin bout somebody N: Ok… tell me about your Progress Report. B: So on my Progress Report, I got a B in Science..umm…I had a B in Band, a B in 8th grade English, a B in Pre-algebra…what else…(She went over her classes on her fingers and I helped her) and in Social Studies class I got a C (She looked up at me quickly to see my reaction to her “C”) cause I didn’t have my binder, and my mom wrote him a note saying that I didn’t have my binder and he said ok and then he still gave me a C, and my mom was mad. (Brittany had a fingernail file with her and she was filing her fingernails, which she had painted black, throughout the interview. She spent more time looking at her nails than at me) N: Did she talk to him about it? B: Yes N: What did he say? B: He said that was ok and everything… N: He said what now? B: He said like that that was ok…He said Imma change your grade to a B N: Because that was just your Progress Report so he said if you do well in the class he’s gonna give you a B for the term? (7:07) B: Yes N: When do you get your…what is it called? What are the quarters called here? B: Advisory… N: Advisory. When do you get your first…or your second advisory? First? Second? B: We’re in our second advisory right now(chuckling) N: What did you get on your first advisory? B: Our 1st advisory report cards are being mailed today N: Oh, so you don’t know yet… B: Right…Today is the 13th right? N: It is the 13th! B: Yeah… (7:31) N: Ok…Alright…So NOW, let’s talk a little bit about Higher Achievement. How long have you been in Higher Achievement B: I’ve been in there since uh… I was in the summer program when I was in the 4th grade going to the 5th, and then in the 5th grade I was in the after school program, and then in the summer when I was in the 5th grade to the 6th I was there for that, and then in 6th grade I was in the after care program, and 6th to 7th summer programs and now I’m here! N: So what…3 years? So doesn’t Paul have an after school program? B: No…like we have after school activities but not an after school program N: You don’t have after school tutoring? B: Oh yeah…they have that! N: Why did you choose Higher Achievement over the Paul after school tutoring B: I chose Higher Achievement because in the 4th grade…I was at Truesdell…(Me: Uh huh) and when I was at Truesdell, my 4th grade teacher had recommended me because I was smart, and I think so too (she said smiling) N: I think so too (winked at her) B: (Giggled) And so I went to the member orientation and the people who interviewed me were very nice N: They were? B: Yes N: Do you remember their names? B: One was Mr. Justin and I forgot the other lady’s name… N: Was it Ms. Allison? B: I think so… N: You think so? Ok. (9:32) Ok, so was that the first time you’d ever been in an after school program? When you were in the 4th grade? B: Umm No. Like in the ….for the school year in the 4th grade I was at my school after care program and then I came here because we had to go to the summer program before we went to the after care program N: So you went to the after school program at Truesdell before you came to Higher Achievement B: Yes N: Ok. So tell me about the Higher Achievement Program. What is…I mean in your words; tell me about the Higher Achievement program. B: Basically…like from 3:30 to 4:30 we do our homework, which I think is boring because we have to sit in silence, and we have to have permission to ask for help from our friends, and from 4:30 to ummm 5:00, um, that is like our snack time, and sometimes I think the snacks are nasty. Like the tacos, they have no flavor to em. And from 5:00 to like 5 to 6, we have electives, and I didn’t like my elective because, um, she took me out of photography and put me into Creative Writing and I already know how to write poems. (Still filing her nails) N: I remember, I read one of your poems. Do you know why? Do you know why you were moved into Creative Writing from photography? Was the class crowded or something? B: It’s crowded, but it’s just that she just picked two out of the ordinary and said go to Creative Writing N: Ok. Who’s teaching Creative Writing? B: Mr. Nick N: Ok, Mr. Nick. Ok. What else? (11:35) B: And from 6 to like 6:15 to 6:30 we have our little Community Meeting, where we give shout outs for out of HAP stuff like…like what you got on your test or something like that… N: What do you think the purpose of that is? B: To like…to tell everybody who you give a shout out to that you’re doing a good job or something like that. And then we talk about like the Word of the Week sometime. Like on Monday we talk about the Word of the Week and the Quote of the Week...um and our mentorin session… (Still filing nails) N: Wait…what do you think is the purpose of the Word of the Week and the Quote of the Week? B: Like just to teach you new words and to give you like...it lets you think about things and how they work and stuff. And then 6:15 to 6:30 we have mentoring…from 6:15 or 6:30 to 7:40 we go to mentorin sessions and we either have Literature, Technology or Math and we learn the basic stuff that they have planned for us, like my first week of technology we learnt about the power drive and stuff like that and the mother board and then after mentoring session, we have our little Gathering Time where we talk about what we do in our mentoring session and we give Culture Shout Outs and the Culture Shout Out is what you do if you were a proactive leader and then like.. N: They’re based on the Culture Constitution right? B: Yes.. N: Ok. Tell me about the Culture Constitution… B: It’s basically saying that…it’s like basically stating how we were …if we were a proactive leader, and like (can’t understand), or like an independent thinker, thinking beyond the obvious answer. How like if your mentor asks you a simple question, you take it beyond that and you give more detail than what the teacher asks you, and stuff like that. And at the end of the month, whoever has the most stickers for the Culture Shout Outs, then they get like a free movie card. N: Cool. So do you think that Higher Achievement helps you to be a more of a proactive leader and to think more deeply about the different questions? B: Yes N: It does help? How does it do that? (15:01) B: Like…just helping you think about like how to ask for help or like how you would go on an interview to get a job and stuff like that… N: Where do they teach you about that? B: Not like actual interviews like that…but they teach you how to read so that when you grow older you can read a contract and stuff like that before you sign it. Cause like during the first week of HAP we had to read something to state that like we were gonna do this and how Higher Achievement works and we had to sign at the bottom if we read it. N: That was your first assignment in Higher Achievement? B: Yes (NicNote: It seems that they are effectively teaching the students how to perceive that the skills and behaviors and rules they are learning now will help them to be successful in school, work, and life in the future) N: Interesting. So who are your mentors this year? B: My literature mentor on Monday is Ms. Erika, and my Tuesday mentor for technology is Ms. Jen, and both of em, they’re from Catholic University, and my Thursday mentor, which is math, and she’s from Howard University, is Ms. Megan. She’s nice. (Smiling) N: She’s nice? Why is she nice? What makes her nice? B: She let’s me write on the board and stuff like that and tell me when my answer is wrong and she’ll b honest with me. N: So are you learning a lot in your tutoring sessions? Or are you learning more in one than the other? Are you getting anything out of them? B: Yes… (Still filing N: What are you getting out of them? B: Like in literature, I am doing politician…like…persuasive writing, like how to convince somebody to like vote or do this or something and in math I’m learning ahead of pre- algebra and how to do the exponents. N: So you’re ahead of what you’re doing in your class. B: Yes, because in pre-algebra we’re not really working on exponents and re…re… N: Reviewing? B: Not reviewing…some other word.. N: That means what? B: It means like to turn something around… Dierdre: Reversing? N: Reverting? Reversing? B: Reverting N: Reverting. Ok. Tell me about…so you said that Ms. Megan was nice. What about the other two mentors? What do you think about them? (18:19) B: Ms. Jen is nice too, because she let’s us have fun and play. She gives us candy. And Ms. Erika’s nice because she let’s us have fun and let’s me play in her hair. N: So do you learn a lot from all of them? You said you learned the persuasive writing in literature. Are they all good teachers as well? Are they good at giving you information that you can take away with you? B: Yes, because they can explain it. N: They all can? B: Yes. N: Alrighty. Tell me about Ms. Aishah and Ms. Andrea too. B: Well…I think Ms. Andrea…she’s mean. Like before I came up here to the computer lab, she had told me I couldn’t go because I didn’t have enough detail for my homework. I had for math I had put “study”, and for literature I had put “read”, and for Spanish I put “worksheet”, and she had wanted me to put more detail so I went back and put, and I got mad because I didn’t wanna write all that. So I went back and put “Spanish Worksheet”, and then for math I had put “Study Celsius/Fahrenheit and area and perimeter”, and I had put for literature, I had put…Advanced English I had put “Read Little Red Riding in the Hood”. About how like she was living in the ghetto and all that. N: So what does Ms. Andrea do here? What is she in charge of? B: She is Assistant Center Director. She does the same thing as Ms. Aishah. I think Ms. Aishah is a little bit mean but nicer than Ms. Andrea. And I think that Ms. Aishah is real skinny and I like her clothes, and I want to have long nails like her. N: Does she have long nails? B: Yes…like this… N: Ms. Aishah? No she doesn’t! (chuckling) Ok, so one of the things that Ms. Aishah talks about a lot is the “culture” of Higher Achievement. Tell me about the culture….what she means when she says the “culture”. (21:23) B: Higher Achievement is supposed to be run like…uh …how we normally proceed like come in and do our homework and stuff like that. And how we sit one to a table and how we have to ask permission to sit with our friends if we working on the same homework. N: In the minds of Ms. Aishah and Ms. Andrea, what do you the purpose is of all those rules and all that structure for the program. What do you think they’re expecting to get out of all that from you guys or for you guys. B: Like how you act around somebody professional, and how we should behave out in public…Basically teaching us manners… N: Do you think that’s useful? B: Yes…sort of.. N: Why yes and why no? B: Yes because I’m acting a little better, and then no because, I’m not really a nice nice person. N: Whatever…yes you are! B: Not really… N: Yes you are! I don’t want to hear that!...So are you able to take what you learn in Higher Achievement and apply it in school for instance? B: Yes…like my Pre-Algebra teacher since I’m ahead of what he’s doing I can tell him what I learned and how…on Tuesday…one of my mentors Mr. Ron drives a Toyota Prius…he told me that…he taught me the A note and the B flat on my clarinet and Mr. ??? hasn’t…my band teacher Mr. ?? hasn’t taught me that because I’m not working on that page, but I still know… N: Umm hmmm…so how does that help you when you go to school? B: Like to tell my teachers what I learnt and like to sort of teach them if they do stuff on the problem I can help them… N: Like in your math you can help your math teacher with problems and stuff? What about the other aspect of the things that they’re trying to teach you here, like the manners and stuff like that. Are you able to translate that into your school behavior? B made a funny face N (laughing): Sort of? How yes and how no? B: Yes, because I’m starting to be nicer to my teachers and no because I still mumble under my breath because they just get on my nerves… (23:54) N: They get on your nerves? Why do they get on your nerves? These are the teachers at your school? Why do they get on your nerves? B: Because they’re always writing people up for something stupid. Like just because you say one little thing in class or because like…My pre-Algebra teacher, he wrote me up just because I was holding my friends homework, and he tried to say that I was doing her homework for her. After class I tried to tell him, and he was like “Oh well, I don’t care, you shouldn’t even had her homework.” So I got mad and pushed the door real hard and it slammed into the wall and so he wrote me up for that. N: Do you feel like your teachers listen to you? B: No. N: No? Not all? Not any of them? B: Well…some of them, because like…they always call on me and tell me if my answer right or wrong and stuff like dat. N: But if you have something to say or if there is a situation where your teacher thinks you did something and you feel like you didn’t do it, do you feel like they hear you at all when you try to explain things like that? B: No (Starting filing her nails again) N: What about here? B: No N: No? Not your mentors or the staff people? B: Well…mentors yeah because it’s just like three people in the group with the mentor N: Um hm. So you feel like you can get more attention there? (She nodded). Ok. Describe for me the perfect mentor. What makes a good mentor? B: She’d be a girl. She’d be a technology teacher…mentor. She’d let us have fun. N: Ok…go back. Why does it need to be a girl? B: I don’t know N: You just prefer a girl? You feel like you can relate better or something? (She nodded) Does it matter if they’re Black or White or Hispanic? B: It doesn’t matter… (She said smiling shyly) N: It doesn’t matter… B: They have to like…like…teach us...like teach us in a fun way and then let us have fun after that. N: I’m hearing a lot of fun happening, where’s the learning (teasing). You want them to make learning fun. Is that what you’re saying? B: Yes N: Ok. What else? B: Let me get on myspace… N: Let you get on myspace!? (laughing) That’s why you want technology? So that you can get on myspace?! B: You should see my page…(laughing) N: You’ll have to show me. I have one on myspace too actually. B: What you can do is you can go on myspace… N: Wait wait…we’ll talk about that after. Don’t forget. We’ll talk about myspace after the interview. B: Ok. N: So it’s not because technology is your favorite? It’s because you want to be able to play on the computer? B: Yes. N: Ok. B: Because I love computers N: Do you want to work with computers when you grow up? B: No. I want to be like a fashion designer, nail and hair stylist, and interior designer, but I can also use the computer for that to get ideas for a clothing line and stuff like that. N: You can even use the computer to put together the different pieces that you want. B: And like do the math. N: Um Hm! You can do that. So let’s just pretend that we are in our mentor session to LEARN about things. If we were in our mentor sessions to LEARN about things, what would make a good mentor in THAT situation (teasing) B: (thinking) Ummm… N: What about like your teachers that you like and the mentors that you’ve had before that you really liked? What was it about them that you liked? B: My teachers? N: Teachers or mentors B: Just make learning fun! Like just…like think of a fun way to help us learn, like how you can make up a rap about math. N: So give me some more examples like that about how mentors have made learning fun for you. B: In literature, when we do our work, he gives us candy. And we do activities like when we reading, we get to do like popcorn style. Like I can read until I want to stop and then I say popcorn and then say somebody’s name and then they’ll start reading until they want to stop and they say popcorn N: And you like that why? B: I don’t have to hear anybody’s voice for the whole time N: Ok, that makes sense. And so we already talked about what you want to do when you get older… So overall what do you think you’re going to get out of being in the Higher Achievement program? B: A good job. N: A good job? Why? B: With Higher Achievement, I can learn new things and then pass all my grades and then they’ll help me go on to high school and then college and get a good job! N: Do you think that they have high expectations of you here? Do you think that they believe in you and your ability to accomplish those goals? B: Yes. (NicNote: What makes you think that?) N: You do? Ok. Well alright! You’re done! (29:49) 18