While students and staff value the school-wide expectations of REAL, a program that promotes positive behavior, the school itself has yet to be transformed. If the goal is to become a cooperative community, the school must provide an opportunity for all students and staff to connect. The focus would need to be more on being supportive of each other rather than just following the rules.

People are often seen performing respectful acts throughout the school. According to senior Chloe Douglas, she generally sees people being kind to one another in the hall and in class but still hears the occasional rude comment about someone or a teacher. These negativities can be eliminated if people truly know one another.

It is nice that REAL has had an impact, but a different program called Breaking Down the Walls could enhance the overall morale of students and staff.

This program consists of several activities that bringing a new light to community building. Students who have participated in it say Breaking Down the Walls provided a chance to become a better student body by showing students that high school is like a team sport; everyone is all in it together.

Douglas, who had this program at the high school attended in Washington before moving here, stated that this school could really use it. In the beginning, her and her classmates wrote a compliment on a sticker and stuck them onto someone and had to share the things that make life stressful. From this, she learned that there was more going on around her than she realized. She would suggest it for here because it helps students be aware of what is going on in the school and changes their outlook on life.

It can start with small steps, like students and teachers doing activities together in assemblies so that they can forget the tensions and the divisions and realize that we are all in high school and we are all in this together. For example, there is one activity where they sit in a group and simply share what is going on in their lives.

Freshmen Yasmin Flores understands that REAL might help some people learn respect, but it does not help herself at all. She finds it  ineffective because in some cases, she is constantly pushed to the side in the hallways and ignored when she is talking to someone.

Other students see REAL as remedying a problem but not stopping it. Sophomore Megan Yacapin states people will push her in the hallway, but when they do so, they tend to say sorry.

Apologizing may show a small representation of REAL, but students should not push other students in the first place. Hurtful contact does not help build a community. In fact, it can tear it apart because it creates distressed feelings between relationships.

While the hallways and classrooms may show limited representations of REAL, some students try to remind themselves to think of its intentions throughout the school day because they promote the visions of REAL.

Sophomore Sonia Mora states that she considers REAL while making choices in school and she puts herself in teachers’ shoes when making choices. This is helpful on an individual level, but for REAL to have an impact, all students need an experience that allows them to do  this. Breaking Down the Walls would be perfect for this situation because it teaches students to communicate and truly listen to each other.

According to junior Clayton Hoffman, REAL would have been more necessary in middle school, but because people do not really hang out in groups, it does not make sense to try and teach people to be nice to each other. Hoffman shares a typical human response to the idea of teaching people how to interact; however, it is the school’s responsibility to present to students why being respectful of one another is important.

The reason why it would not make sense to just teach people to be nice to each other is because people tend to listen for a little while and then forget weeks after that. If there were a program that made a genuine lasting impression, it could impact the school in a really positive way.

Teachers may teach the ethics of REAL, but when it comes to someone’s personal interests, some people would rather knock someone down then pick them back up. This is exemplified in the hallways when students push each other just to get to their next class. When students do this to each other, it creates a barrier between the kind and the snarky. Students should be taking down the barrier rather than the close-knit community that everyone should be striving for.

Students may believe that REAL has not been demonstrated all too well in the hallways, classrooms and more, but principal John Koch looks at the controversy through a different light. According to Koch, programs like REAL are visions; one is never going to be perfect at it, but one wants to keep working towards it no matter what.

While REAL may not be perfect, there is a solution to make its intentions more effective within the school and the community around it. This solution is called Breaking Down the Walls, which is a program designed to bring students, teachers and staff together as a community. It inspires everyone to support each other by doing activities in which they have to step out of their comfort zones and come together.

For us to have it here, it would take around $3,000 for airfare, training, workshop, and an assembly. While it may sound like a lot to take on, it is minimal to the long lasting shift the program has on the students and staff.

Whether it is a formal program or aspects added to what is already done, it is essential to build respect by advocating that students and staff treat each other equally. These activities would also create excellence by advertising to students to give their all rather than give up when they are struggling, whether with school or friendships. Accountability would be shown because the program promotes students to come to school and try everyday, on top of how being a high school is like being a team where we all influence one another. Lastly, this program would show leadership because it would illustrate to students that it is gratifying to step outside of the box.

All in all, REAL is a strong structured program for high school, but on the other hand, if the school board decided to change REAL to help students come together as a community rather than just a school, students could quite possibly treat each other better. Breaking Down the Walls would demonstrate what a community needs by letting people forget their differences and become on. If teachers and administrators are serious about changing the school, it requires everyone to take down their guard and having time to get to know one another.

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