Is the Educational System focused on learning or in grades?

NotionPic/Shutterstock. Design: Ashley Britton/SheKnows.

Are we really learning or are we just trying to get good grades? When we come to school we feel pressured to get good grades, because of the impact they will have on our future, but are we learning anything in the process or are we just studying for the tests and right after forgetting?

I personally think we don’t really learn that much when we focus on just grades because grades remove the focus on learning. We are worried about succeeding, but we are not allowing ourselves the chance of failing, and therefore, we're missing out on the opportunity to create significant learning experiences that create real knowledge. To check this theory out, I created a google form asking some students their opinion on the matter and these are some of their answers:

• “I believe that everything revolves around the grades we get, and we got to the point that students don't care about learning they just want to get that A to satisfy them and their parents.”

• “I feel like I learn only to be prepared for future exams just to get good grades, but after the test is over, I forget everything. When I was online, since there weren't many exams, I only did the work to get the grade and didn't learn anything.”

• “To be honest, obviously one learns, but I only do it to pass the grade and be able to graduate, but I especially don't learn much.”

• ‘I think we just come to school for a grade. Even though we learn things,  we judge ourselves by our grades. People think that if u get an F ur a failure and dumb, but if you get an A ur intelligent and a hard worker.’

• “When I was little, I did have the curiosity of learning. As you grow up and have more responsibilities, which gives you less time to care about learning. This forces you to choose priorities, this case being, "surviving the year".”

• “Although our primary attention is getting good grades, I believe that for the most part, in the process of getting a good grade we do learn the subjects we're required to learn. It's more of a subject of what is more efficient, keeping the grading system or eliminating it more together, making the sole focus of students learning.”

• “I feel that teachers don’t encourage our learning but they only help us get a good grade and expect us to get good grades not to really learn. I feel like not only teachers but the whole school should create activities that help us learn and understand topics instead of just putting assignments and expecting us to get an A on them.”

• “I believe that we are really learning most of the time, however, instead of having the motivation of learning something new, the motivation is to get a good grade.”

79% of the students that responded to the form believed that we don't learn much. And if we are being honest at the end of the year everything is just brainwashed. Just a glimpse of what we learned and remember. This is not right. We really are supposed to learn. So I decided to survey the students to see what they think teachers should do:

• “Teachers can make sure that your learning by doing different kinds of work not only worksheets, and summaries to check comprehension, or asking questions. Hands-on projects, trivia games and real-life experiences work better for me."

• “In order to assure that we learn, teachers could use games and activities like hangman and jeopardy. We learn better when we have fun!”

• “Teachers can do games, projects and competitions in the class. When you are having fun and competing, you enjoy learning more. Which makes you much more likely to learn more.” 

In my personal opinion, I believe teachers should do some kind of practice. For example a surprise learning game. Something that doesn't give students a lot of time to practice and see what they remember and based on that, teachers could know what to teach them.

I hope that you understand the situation and try and make this school environment more about learning than getting good grades because in the end what makes a good school is how well the students learn. Not a number.

Maria Alejandra Ramirez

7th Grade

How Social Media Can Affect Your Brain

Social Media can affect your life in different ways; physically, you might change something about yourself based on someone’s opinion or popular trends. Mentally, you might want to start doing something that is not correct, you can feel sad, unloved, or useless. Maybe you haven’t gone through this but other people have. 

Social media can change how you act every day. This change can be good or bad. A good change: an influencer can actually encourage you to start a new hobby or habit like learning a new language online or learning an instrument. A bad change: some influencer does something that's wrong but trendy and you want to be like them because they have many fans.

Sometimes, small children get access to overaged content and can get traumatized. This could be caused by friends that will start talking about inappropriate things and you might look for them. It can also be caused by a lack of supervision from adults.   

In conclusion, I think this is a very big problem because it affects many people regardless of their age or country, and it’s sad to see how it has been growing throughout time. I think if we create awareness and make an effort to build real connections with people and the world around us we won’t be affected by what social media has to offer.

Samantha Aquino

5th Grader

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day has been celebrated on March 8th every year since 1911. It’s one day in the year in which everybody in the world celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

At MCS, we have been learning about different women who have made a difference. The Ninth Grade students, along with their teacher Mrs. Edith Fadul, have been researching and writing about these women, discovering their impact in today's society, and taking a moment to commemorate their amazing achievements.

These are just a few:

Oprah Winfrey

By Amalia Vargas

9th Grader

Oprah Winfrey is a leading American actress and businesswoman who hosts “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. She used the show as a platform to teach and inspire, giving viewers a positive and uplifting experience, featuring book clubs, interviews, self-improvement segments, and forays into events around the world. She has become one of the most influential women in the US. 

Winfrey is considered a role model to many because of her charity work, her schools, and her true relationships with her fans. Winfrey stands out among many people in her ability to empathize and help those people get through their troubling times. She established 60 schools in 13 countries, supported women's shelters, created scholarships, and funded over 200 homes through Habitat for Humanity.

In conclusion, Oprah is a very inspirational and empathetic person who has helped numerous amount of people truly find themselves, and motivated others to start helping the ones in need. As a young woman, Oprah has demonstrated to me that one can achieve anything if you are actually willing to, and that “Anything you imagine, you can create” by believing in yourself.

Anne Frank

By Lucas Ostropolsky

9th Grade

Anne Frank, was a German-Dutch girl that represents bravery, patience, and someone that brings light to the darkness. She was 13 years old when she hid from the Nazis that were killing Jews, so, being a Jew, she hid very well and started to narrate everything in her life for the past 25 months. She is recognized because of the diary she wrote while hiding and how her book made an impact on the world.

Anne Frank wrote a diary in which she narrates her life on her 25-month journey hiding from the nazis, but why is she so important? This is because we can see her bravery to hide and the patience to hide for that long and the way she wanted equality for everyone. Also, she proved that in every bad moment, a joke can take place because in her diary we can see how she did dirty jokes even though the nazis were looking for her, so she proved that she is actually important to show her bravery and intelligence.

Additionally, we can see she wrote about her life aspirations and her future, which never became true because they found her and killed her, which shows that some stories do have bad endings, also this diary proves, even more, the horrible things the Nazis did to the Jews just because of their religion. 

In conclusion, Anne Frank is a person we can look up to because of her intelligence, bravery, optimistic way of living, and her beautiful way of writing. In life, we need to start to be more optimistic.

Princess Diana

By Mariel Guerra and

9th Grade

Princess Diana, an international icon was born on the 1st of July 1961 in Norfolk. She was a trendsetter, not only fashion-wise but also because she was an activist way ahead of her time. Many people know Princess Diana as an incredible fashion icon, but I’m here to tell you that she was important for so much more than just her incredible sense of style.

Princess Diana was an advocate and humanitarian particularly interested in helping people in shelters, especially battered women and children. As a matter of fact, during her marriage to Prince Charles, she served as President of over a hundred charities focused on helping children and the homeless. For example, according to “historic newspapers”, she was the leader of organizations that had to do with battling poverty, and homelessness, banning the use of landmines, as well as other organizations and she was just generally in favor of changing our society for the better.

She was actually one of the first public figures to address the issue of HIV/AIDS and created changes regarding leprosy. She looked so happy while helping others when she did charity for those who really needed it. She set an example for many people all over the world, and she made sure to counteract beliefs in the world that were popular in her time but aren’t considered okay nowadays.

To me, Princess Diana is a role model, who even though is no longer with us, changed the world and flipped judgmental ideas around to create a more prosperous planet. Moreover, she was an inspiration for girls all over the world because she made them realize that you can do so much good and feel genuinely content with the satisfaction helping others brings. She also made girls understand their worth when throughout her life, she did what was best for her, even if those decisions were tough to make. Princess Diana was such an important activist who was passionate about helping those around her whenever she could.

In conclusion, Princess Diana was known for her impeccable sense of fashion, activism, and charitable work, but she used her fame to raise awareness about diseases, illnesses, domestic violence, and even mental health. She helped the sick and the poor despite her own personal problems while still prioritizing her family. Princess Diana said: “I lead from the heart, not the head.”. In my opinion, this means that she will give love to everyone, along with trying to make the world a better place by taking care of others instead of only doing what's good for her and her family. I believe that these are very important words that have a powerful meaning, they should be taken into consideration by every leader in the future who has the purpose of leading with pride and sympathy like her.

Kamala Harris

By Maria Paula López

9th Grade

Kamala Harris, an important woman figure and a great representative for women of color. Even for immigrants. Since little, Kamala Harris has been aware that the road to racial justice was hard and long. She often has spoken on her campaign of those who have come before her, of her parents, immigrants drawn to the civil rights struggle in the United States, and of the ancestors who have ‘paved the way'.

After her rise to the vice presidency, Kamala Harris has become the first woman and first woman of color to hold the office. This has become a milestone for a nation in disruption, in the struggle of a harsh history of racial injustice. Ms. Harris embodies the future of a country that is growing more racially diverse. In her victory speech, she spoke of her mother and the generations of women of all races who have made progress along the way for this moment to arrive. She said the following words; “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.” Representative Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington said the following about Ms. Harris, “She understands what it means to be the child of immigrants. What it means to be a person of color seeking racial justice.”

I believe Kamala Harris is just one of many more women who will stand like she does. That will bring justice to us women and those of color. Who will represent us in many ways and show our strength to the world? Ms. Harris has done the first step for us and has made an impact on the world and on women. This will encourage other women to do what she's done and to let the world see that a woman is capable of anything.

Queen Elizabeth I

By Francisco Feliz

9th Grade

Queen Elizabeth I or also known as “The Virgin Queen” daughter of  Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn came to reign in 1558. This Queen had a certain trait that makes her stand apart from all the Queens in England as her surname says, she was a virgin until the day of her death. It wasn’t because she was ugly or because people never saw her, in fact, she received several propositions, King Frederick II, and King Eric XIV of Sweden were some examples of the pretenders she had, nonetheless, she rejected all of them. In addition, she was a great ruler, she succeeded in protecting England and its territories, and she was also religiously tolerant which was something rare for the time. This exemplifies the independence of Queen Elizabeth I. She didn’t need a man by her side to rule England, and she could run the country effectively. She stood firmly with that policy until the day she died.

In conclusion Queen Elizabeth I, was a woman who could take the role of men, the role of Queen, and could do everything that Kings could and even better without the help of any men. 

Serena Williams

By Miguel Gadala-María

9th Grade

Serena Williams is the representation of black empowerment…

She was the first black tennis player of all time, her goal was to follow her goal, but also to encourage black people, not to be afraid to show their skin. If you didn't know in 1990 tennis was basically a white sport you didn't see black tennis players at the time. In 1995, when Williams was in the ninth grade, her father pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy and took over all coaching at their home. Serena was so passionate about her goal that she wouldn't let anything stop her from achieving it. But she wasn't very happy with this decision. She wanted to go pro as soon as possible, but her dad did not agree to that…

After doing what her dad said, she kept trying to convince him of changing his opinion by letting her go pro. After more practicing and a lot of studies, Serena kept trying and trying until she got what she wanted… but after getting even better and better at tennis she started playing in important tournaments and games, and also showing people that being black is not a disadvantage in life that tennis is also a black sport and showing people to not be afraid, but to be brave. 

Then she continued to play and get better until she went pro, she is the first black tennis player that went pro. Her dad was hugely proud of her. 

Harriet Tubman

By Jade Mei Cheaz

9th Grade

While I searched for an important woman to write about, I thought about writing about someone I already knew about, but I was curious and looked up somebody I didn’t know; I’m glad I did. Tubman is somebody which I look up to now that I know more about her.

According to WomensHistory.com, Tubman was known as “Moses of her people”, this is because she helped a lot of people get freedom and break free from enslavement. Harriet Tubman was born into an enslaved family with 8 siblings. She was enslaved, abused and rented as a domestic servant at an early age, despite this, she later managed to escape and even went back to help more people who were going through the same thing she did, if it weren't for her, a lot of people would've been kept enslaved and would've gotten the chance at freedom. 

In conclusion, I think that Tubman is one of the strongest people I've ever known, despite her past trauma of being a slave and being abused, once she escaped, she went back and helped people with the risk of getting caught never leaving anyone behind. She risked her life for the freedom of people being treated unfairly and I really admire that, and think that she should be talked about more often.

To wrap it up, if you are a woman, feel proud of what you are and how many of us have helped society. Happy International women’s day, ladies. You deserve it!

Do you really want to grow up?

As we grow, we love to say things like “I wish I was older to do this” or “I want to be an adult already. Being a kid is so hard!” But... Don`t you ever notice that as you grow up things get harder and we seem to feel more pressure and stress?

It's not something I say because I want to. I'm saying this because I go through it every day, and you probably do too.

No one can say being a kid is easy (especially when you are in the process of becoming a teen) but DON'T YOU DARE to think being an adult is easier since it has been proven that this idea is most likely false. We are still children even if we are mature and allowed to be part of adult conversations. We are still kids and nothing will change that for a pretty long time.

Most people that surround us are adults, and the way we see them is very far from the reality due to the fact that we admire and want to be like them. We are very eager to grow, and there is nothing wrong with that, but make sure that this process of wishing to be an adult stops you from enjoying the different stages of life that you are supposed to have WHEN they are supposed to happen. 

I know that to every good side there is a bad one, and vice-versa. For this reason, I decided to list some pros and cons of growing up:

PROS

1. You get your own freedom to do whatever and go wherever you want

2. You make your own rules 

3. You can follow your own beliefs, and make your own decisions

4. Younger people will respect you for being older and wiser

CONS

1. You have to get a job and work 

2. Rely on yourself for money, food, and shelter

3. More responsibilities that you have to carry on with you as you grow especially if you decide to have children

4. The stress of having to make a lot of compromises and choosing the right path and people to be with.

Being a grown-up may seem fun but it is not always rainbows and peaches. If we actually think about it, there are a lot of responsibilities that come with the job, and it’s really important to keep up with them in order to survive. In fact, there is a pretty good chance that when you actually become an adult, you'll wish you could go back to being a kid.

I get it. Sometimes it is hard and we get stressed with school, friends, problems at home, etc, but this doesn't mean we need to wish for things we can’t control. We all have hopes and dreams we want to reach, in the short or long term, but it’s best to appreciate every single day and live the moment. Inevitably, we will have mature and grow up, but all in due time.

Finally, I believe that it is important to remember that we have to be patient and enjoy the little things in life because that is what makes the process of growing up awesome.

"That's the real problem with the world. Too many people grow up!"

Walt Disney

Maria Alejandra Vásquez

6th grade

Entrepreneurship

I'm sure that at this point you’ve heard about Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, or Bill Gates... Good, let’s start by just saying that these are all entrepreneurs. And they started in their garage. You might be asking, what is entrepreneurship all about? Starting a business is the best example of it, but I've realized that real entrepreneurship is actually an ATTITUDE to LIFE.

Entrepreneurship by definition is "the ability and readiness to develop, organize and run a business enterprise, along with any of its uncertainties in order to make a profit." It is a very modern and versatile way of having a work future ensured. In fact, 582 million people in the world (approximately) want to be involved in the entrepreneurship business. That’s about 18.7%  of Earth’s population. 

For college career options, Business Administration would be the best choice for Entrepreneurship. Why? Because to be an entrepreneur, you have to know how to start your business, what it's gonna be about, and of course how to manage it correctly and in a way that does not fail. However, like anything in life, it is all about how you swim around uncertainty, take risks and learn from mistakes that will keep your business afloat. Entrepreneurs are DOERS.

You also have to keep in mind that in order to stand out from the crowd, you need to create something new and original (so people don't think “Oh that's a copy of…”) Thinking of an innovative idea is a key step before starting your business: How can you make something that already exists, better? How can you create the need for something that can make lives easier, or processes faster? How can you create something completely new, and make people buy it? How can you make your product stand out from the competition? How could people like your product more? How will you deal with competition?

Being an entrepreneur takes a lot of effort and dedication. But all that work and dedication can ensure you a future in which you can be successful, and enjoy what you do. This tendency, which is gaining more popularity and regularity every day, can provide you economical stability if your business is liked, supported and successful. 

Rodrigo Linera

6th Grade

How Dominicans Celebrate Independence Day

Independence day is a reminder to all Dominicans of how hard it was for our founding fathers, Juan Pablo Duarte, Matias Ramon Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez to lead us to freedom. This is why it is really important for people to commemorate this day.

For us Dominicans, it was a hard journey towards our independence. First, our Founding Fathers worked to create a secret society called “La Trinitaria”. This group's purpose was to spark the ideas that would liberate us from the Haitian government of president Boyer, whose troops had invaded our side of the island. They worked for months to create a plan. The plan had a lot of twists and turns. Juan Pablo Duarte was even exiled to Venezuela, and he was there when the independence war began.

It was on the night of February 27, 1844, when Francisco del Rosario Sanchez raised the flag for the first time in la Puerta del Conde. At the same time, Matias Ramon Mella fired his “trabucazo” at “ La Puerta de la Misericordia” and declared our Independence. These events make these landmarks two of the most popular and loved places in the Dominican Republic.

Many Dominicans like celebrating Independence day, but some people don't. According to google the 27th of February is normally celebrated with a walk at the “zona colonial” or visiting “ La Puerta del Conde”. This reminds me and many people of how awesome, great and beautiful our country is. 

I decided to gather some information from people at school. I asked them how they celebrate independence day and why they think it is important to commemorate it. This is what they responded:

"We celebrate a family dinner and before eating, we pray and say thank you, kind of like we do on Thanksgiving. It is important because we have to celebrate our achievements and what other people did for us so we can be free and be the independent country we are today."

"I celebrate Independence day by going out to eat with my family typical Dominican food. But mainly we celebrate at school and we do fun activities like singing the anthem, dressing up or doing plays. To honor our country and to feel pride in our nationality."

"I don't really do anything special, but it's important to celebrate it because our independence may have saved us from lots of things."

"I celebrate Independence Day by going somewhere out of the city with my family and spending quality time with them. It is important to celebrate Independence Day since it is the day where we as a country got our independence."

"I usually just celebrate it in school, but don't really do anything else.  I think it's important because it allows us to be proud of our freedom and commemorate our founding fathers for everything they did for this country."

In conclusion, Dominicans celebrate Independence Day in different ways. What really matters is that we take time to thank and remember our Founding Fathers: Duarte, Sanchez, and Mella for all that they did for this country. Our Independence Day is an important and precious day for all Dominicans. Happy Independence day!!!

Daniella Garcia

7th Grade

Super Bowl halftime, a tribute to Black History

Hello! My name is Isabella and today I’m going to write about something that you may have watched last week, but not noticed and it is strongly related to Black History Month in the USA:  The Superbowl HalfTime.

You might be asking “What does Black History Month have to do with the Super Bowl HalfTime?” I will explain in detail.

It had been a while since LA had hosted a Superbowl. The whole setting of the halftime was “the hood” marked by famous west coast places, like the barbershop, the legendary music venue Eve After Dark and Compton burger joint Tam’s Burgers #21. 

This year's performers were not one, not two, but five different hip-hop artists as the headlining acts: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige. This is the first time in the Super Bowl History that the show is entirely formed by West Coast rappers. Even though Eminem was there (he’s a white rapper, but also Dr. Dre's protegee) the plot of the halftime show still honored black culture. Did you see Eminem taking a knee? This form of peaceful protest started a while ago to point a finger against police brutality and racial injustice, as well as growing tensions around race crimes.

The choreography, which involved Snoop Dogg, clad in Rams blue and gold, doing his signature crip walk, the show was an outpouring of West Coast pride—none more evident than when Dre and Snoop took to the stage to perform “California Love.” 

All these elements combined delivered a show very hard to forget. An homage to the evolution of Hip Hop in the entertainment industry, Dr. Dre. and his influence on the West Coast music, and the origins of the NFL and the Black people that pioneered the Super Bowl as the ultimate home for the best of entertainment.  

A look at the history of the Halftime Show proves it exists due both to Black entertainers on the screen and Black audiences at home. In my opinion, it had to be one of the best halftime shows ever.

Isabella Garcia

6th Grade