Second Interview - Corrina Date of Interview: Thursday, 1/11/07 Time of Interview: 6:00-6:20pm Location: Paul Public Charter School- Library Subject Name: Corrina Interviewer: Nichole Interview Questions Part I - General 1) Has Higher Achievement affected the way you view your education? If so, How? 2) Has Higher Achievement changed the way you view your future? If so, How? 3) Does Higher Achievement prepare you at all to deal with injustice or unfairness that you experience in school and in the world? If so how? 4) Would your life be any different if you were not in Higher Achievement? 5) How is Higher Achievement helping you to prepare for life after Middle School? Part II – Critical Components of ASP 6) Tell me about the facilities here at Paul 7) How involved are your parents in the program? 8) Tell me what you think about the lessons in your mentoring session Part II – Individual 9) In our first interview, I got the impression that you have better relationships with the mentors and staff at Higher Achievement than you teachers at school. Is that true? Can you explain how or why? 10) Give me a specific example when you felt understood by the 1) HA staff, 2) a mentor 11) How do Ms. Aishah and Ms. Andrea compare to your teachers at school? Description of Setting (See previous descriptions of library) Interview Transcription N: OK…This actually shouldn’t take as long as the other one. It’s just some follow-up questions… C: Umm hmmm N: Umm…Let’s see where I want to start….Do you feel like Higher Achievement has affected the way that you view your education? C: *sighs* Umm…yeah… N: How so? C: Um…cause sometimes Higher Achievement can be fun and teach in a fun way and at school…they don’t do that… N: So has it changed the way that you look at school? C: Yeah…cause now I actually want to come to school. N: Really? C: Yeah N: You didn’t want to come before? C: Uh uh N: What made the difference? C: I have HAP after school. N: Oh. Ok. Has it changed the way you look at your future? C: Yeah, because they always talk about high school…college…Yeah N: Yeah? And you want to be…a psychologist… C: Yeah N: Did you say what kind? Oh…you said a psychiatrist, right? Instead of a psychologist… C: Aren’t they the same thing? N: Well no…A psychiatrist can prescribe medicine…You actually have to go to medical school to be a psychiatrist. A psychologist…you can …um…you can stop…um…conceivably you can stop at your masters but it’s good to go ahead and get your PhD…but you can’t prescribe medicine…you’re more like a counselor… C: Ok…that’s what I wanna…what is that…a psychologist? N: Yeah…a psychologist….And there are tons….because I was a psychology major when I first started school. I didn’t finish in psychology, but there are tons of different types of psychologists. It might be a good idea for you to start looking at the different kinds. There’s child psychologist, family psychologist, marriage…marriage…uh family….um occupational, industrial psychologist, educational psychologist… C: I want to do something with kids… N: Ok. Well that would be…you could do educational psychologist, you could do child psychologist, you could do family psychologist… C: Child….I mean…Child…what does that fall into…like… N: Well like an educational psychologist works in the schools… C: Like a counselor? N: Well kind of…well…you do more testing…you do a little bit of counseling, but you also do testing and some other random things. A Child psychologist you could do private practice work. You could work at an institution, like a mental institution. Um, Yeah, or you could work for like a medical organization that’s not necessarily a mental hospital…yeah… C: Oh ok… N: You should do some research on it to find out which one kind of strikes your interest more. There’s a lot of options out there for you…(3:00) C: Ok. N: Um…let’s see. Did you tell me that you have…sometimes encounter…I think you did…some difficulties or challenges with your teachers at school…like where you feel like you’re treated unfairly sometimes… C: Umm…yeah… N: Yeah? Do you feel like…like what are the…one of the things that Higher Achievement…like a the corporate office…talks about a lot is issues of social justice. Are you familiar with that term? Social justice? (shakes head) It’s basically talking about efforts to make sure that everyone is being treated equally and that they’re receiving the justice they deserve in different organizations and institutions, like in schools and society in general. So they talk about social justice a lot, and I was wondering if you felt like Higher Achievement prepares you to deal with like injustice and unfairness, or equips you to deal with injustice and unfairness that you experience outside of the program. Whether it be at school or outside of school in your everyday life…Do they give you any tools to deal with stuff like that? C: Umm…not really… N: No… C: I mean because at HAP they try to treat you fairly so…but…yeah… N: Ok…Uh….Do you think your life would be any different if you weren’t in Higher Achievement? C: Yeah N: How so? C: Boring N: It would be boring? (chuckling) C: Yeah N: What would you be doing…why would it be boring if you weren’t?... C: I’d probably be at home because my parents don’t let me go out that much… N: Good! 21! (laughing) (referring to my telling me before that she should date until she was 21) C: Yeah…(rolling eyes jokingly and chuckling) N: How has Higher Achievement helped you to prepare …or HAS it helped you to prepare for life after middle school C: Yeah…cause like…I used to be really really shy at the beginning of the year, but Ms. Aishah and the others… N: At the beginning of this year? C: No, like when I started coming to HAP. N: Which was in what grade? C: 6th…no 5th…cause I came in the summer before 6th N: Ok. C: So yeah I used to be really really shy and I didn’t raise my hand or anything like that, but now I always want to do that. And so I think it’s helped me to get out of my shell… N: So you feel more confident? C: Um hm. N: Yeah? Good! …So tell me about the facilities here at Paul. Do you think that you have everything that you need here? Is there anything lacking as far as the physical environment and the resources that are available to you while you’re at HAP? Like is the building…the resources, the books, the materials. Is there anything that you want or that you think you need that you don’t have here? C: No, I think Paul is good. (5:56) N: You think Paul is good? Ok. ….Um…Are your…Your parents are pretty involved in the program right? You’re dad comes down here a lot right? Well not a lot but… C: What, to pick me up? N: Well let me just ask you…Are your parents…Do you feel like your parents are actively involved in the program…when necessary? C: Like do they come to like the Literary Love? (Poetry Contest). No…not really… N: No…Do you um…Do…like if you have any issues or something do your parents… C: Yeah…when they NEED to come they come…but it’s like…it’s like…for like the end of the year stuff…most of the time they don’t come. But if they need to come they come. N: Ok…Oh…Tell me about…And I’m skipping around to different subjects here but these are just follow-up questions from our interview before….Um Tell me about what you think about the lessons in your mentoring sessions. Do you think that they’re challenging, do you think that they’re boring, do you think that they’re in line with what you’re doing in school or what…? C: Not…It depends on the subject, cause math is kinda hard for me so sometimes, yeah, it’s challenging…Um…reading…language arts…they’re boring…there could be more…like…most of the time we read stuff and they ask us questions and I think that’s really boring. It should be something more exciting. N: Like what? C: Like… jump around or something. N: Jump around (chuckling)? C: Yeah…cause like we stay in our seats all the time. Like we could do something hands on. And like technology, I think that’s fun. But then again it depends on the mentor. N: Tell me more about that… C: Like…I’m not trying to be mean, but…like if the mentor is old, then…chances are they’ll be really boring…cause they’re not loud and funny or know what’s going on… N: So you find that the younger mentors are able to make it more interesting? C: Uh huh N: Younger like the CU students or younger like young adult C: Both, but mostly the Catholic students…. N: Umm…do you feel like the mentors that you have or have had are organized and well- prepared with the curriculum when they come…that they teach you? C: Yeah N: Pretty consistently? C: Yeah N: Um…In our first interview, I got the impression that you have somewhat better relationships with the mentors and staff at Higher Achievement than you do with your teachers. Is that true? (8:25) C: Yeah N: Can you explain how or why? C: It’s because like here at HAP there’s not many students so there’s more teachers and less students so they get to talk more. In school, the teachers are always busy and they don’t have time…like when you need them they’re there, but just to be there they’re not …there. N: Can you give me a specific example of when you’ve felt supported by the staff…not the mentors, but the staff here… C: Yeah. Tell you? N: Yep C: Once, I acted up…said something I shouldn’t have said…and my mentor screamed on me…well he didn’t scream on me but he embarrassed me in front of the whole computer lab and I kind of got upset and he noticed that I was upset and he apologized for that and so did I, and then he was like that he was sorry…that he should have never done that, but I should have never done that. And I was surprised that he didn’t write me up because he understood that I was upset. N: What do you think that that says about his relationship with you? C: That he cares… N: Ok. Do you feel like this is an environment where you feel safe? Like emotionally and physically to be yourself and to grow and to learn and all that stuff C: Yeah N: You do? C: Yeah N: What makes you feel that way? C: Mostly because if something bad does happen there is always someone there… N: How do…(my phone rings – I turn it off) I should turn that off! C: (chuckles) N: Ok, what was that other question? Ok, how do Ms. Aishah and Ms. Andrea compare to your teachers at school? I know you said your mentors…you know…you feel… C: Good? N: Yeah C: I mean I’m more attached to Ms. Aishah and Ms. Andrea than to my teachers… N: Than to your teachers at school? C: Yeah N: Ok.. C: Explain? N: Yes (laughing) Always explain! C: Cause like…when I come into HAP I always say hello to Ms. Aishah and Ms. Andrea….and when I see my teachers like whatever…I don’t care…it’s like they’re busy and whatever…Ms. Andrea and Ms. Aishah like…they make sure I’m ok…Yeah(11:12) N: Is there anything else that you feel it’s important for me to know about your whole experience with Higher Achievement C: Food is important! N: Food. Have you been participating in the um the idea sessions that they’re having during Community Meeting? C: Yeah N: What are some of the things you’ve come up with? C: Um…some of…I like some of the things that they’re doing. For example, I like when…if somebody has a birthday, they buy a cake. N: Oh, they do? C: It’s like if you have a birthday on January and February…in March they cut a cake for those that have birthdays in Jan and Feb. N: Oh ok. That’s cool. That’s something they’re going to start doing or… C: No, they’ve been started doing that. And that’s what I like…and …They could get better food. Everybody wants better food. N: Yeah. I’ve had several people tell me that. What else were they saying? C: Um. They want…more…rewards… Yeah N: For… C: I forgot what…but that’s what they said. Like more…and Ms. Aishah asked like what do they want for awards, and some people said play time, but like (can’t understand) (I pick up the recorder and hold it closer to her) Do I have to hold it? N: No, but I can barely hear you C: Ok….that’s it… N: Um…what about the 8th grade meeting…what are you guys doing with that? C: We have to talk about what are our goals…and what legacy we want to leave…and yeah, she wants us to help her out with planning the things (13:10) N: Uh huh…what do you think about that? C: Um…It’s good…cause that’s the first year we’ve done that. Cause like…I gotta be honest like the other years, 8th graders didn’t do much, well they did do…a lot, but not as much as they’re giving us…8th graders this year. N: Do you like the added responsibility? C: Sometimes… N: Sometimes? C: Sometimes she expects too much of us… N: Really? C: Yeah N: Would you prefer that she have low expectations of you? C: No…cause, I mean when we get older it’s gonna be like that 24-7. N: So how are the expectations to high? C: Like, she would want us to plan things out and people got homework to do. N: Oh ok C: Yeah N: So it’s from a time perspective… C: Yeah N: Ok. Do you ever express that? C: No, cause…I know better than to do that… N: Why? C: Cause! Like…You know me Ms. Nichole…I get myself into trouble and I’m not…I’ve changed! N: Uh huh C: Yeah, my attitude. N: Yeah but see…within that change, you can still express yourself, but you can say it… C: I mean I express it in a way that’s… N: Productive. I mean have you ever heard that saying, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?” It’s an old old saying (I say to her dubious look – laughing) C: I’ve heard it before, but I don’t get it. Vinegar’s supposed to be the bad side? N: Right. I mean do you wanna drink some vinegar? C: No. N: But honey is sweet… C: Oh! N: So you’d rather eat honey than vinegar… C: Vinegar is sour? N: Right, It’s like bitter and sour, and so flies would be…you can catch more flies …flies will be attracted to the sweetness, but they’re gonna not be attracted to the vinegar. C: Ok, I get it. N: So you can pull people in or draw people in and get what you want when you’re being sweet and kind. That’s basically what that’s saying. C: Ok (14:56) N: See…You can still say… if you have something to say… C: I’m not…I speak my mind…sometimes more than I need to… N: Yeah…. C: Yeah…like today…Can I tell you my story? N: Yeah C: Today…We were at a Geography movie and I got kicked out. N: Corrina Reyes! C: She did! (can’t understand) She told me to be quiet way too many times and I was like “whatever”, and I would talk, like across…there was this girl…she was like over there (points across the library) and I was talking to her, and she just…she didn’t even tell me, she was just like, she pointed at the door and everybody was lookin at me…it was like you just messed up my experience of watching the Geography movie N: So where did you have to go when you left? Did you go to the principal’s office? C: HAP N: Ohhh…So it was at the end… C: She just kicked me out… N: So it was at the end of the day… C: Yeah. It was at the end of the day… N: We won’t be having that happen anymore, right? (I hear people talking while approaching the library). Already? Is that mentors?? C: Yeah N: Do you have mentoring today? C: I don’t have a mentor N: You can finish your story C: I’m done N: Alright! That’s it! Ended (16:12) 13