色欲王朝

Is America in a state of progress or decline?听

A group of 色欲王朝 dual enrolled students recently had an out-of-classroom experience to gain perspectives on contemporary American social trends centering around this question.听

The Central Montcalm High School students are taking 色欲王朝鈥檚 Freshman English 1 class, taught by 色欲王朝 English Instructor and Dual Enrollment English Coordinator Ben Stancil. As part of their assignment, they interviewed an elder in their community to explore their perspectives on topics such as technology, politics, discipline, respect, career opportunities, childhood experiences and more.听

Stancil said the lesson began with an in-class discussion based solely on the students鈥� beliefs.听听

鈥淲e talked about race, politics and bullying, all in terms of whether America is headed on a good path or in a state of decline,鈥� Stancil said.听

鈥淚鈥檝e found that a nice starting point for research is to get them out in the field, interviewing people and seeing first-hand how their selected trends are appearing in contemporary life,鈥� he added.听

Upon completion of their interviews, the students brought their findings back to class for small group discussions followed by a full classroom discussion.听

Addisen Peterman, a 17-year-old senior from Six Lakes, interviewed a family friend who was in the Navy for 20 years.听

鈥淚 knew he has had a lot of personal experiences that he could draw from,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 opened听my听interview by asking what were his regrets in his life? He responded by saying, 鈥業 have none, everything I have done was for a purpose.鈥�听

鈥淗e talked about technology in relation to almost every question I asked,鈥� Addisen said. 鈥淗e said the technology they had was so different to what we have now. He never said anything negative about it, which kind of changed my perspective because I feel like technology can get overrated with our generation. We can overuse it,听so that takes away from our human experiences听and human interactions听out into the real world.听

鈥�I guess that kind of changed my perspective听because they never had that opportunity as a kid. Now that they have it, it鈥檚 a miracle and a blessing, and it鈥檚 good,鈥� she added.听

Ryan Lake had a similar experience while interviewing a friend鈥檚 grandfather.听

鈥淚 asked him what they did as kids,鈥� said the 17-year-old Sidney resident. 鈥�He was telling me about how they were always outside, even on hot summer days, compared to kids now who are mostly inside playing video games. I thought it was pretty cool. It made me look back and think about when I lived in听town in Stanton and me and my friends would go down to the park and ride bike all the time,听until we got older,听and now we just don鈥檛 hang out like that anymore. I鈥檝e seen that cultural shift personally.鈥�听

While talking with a friend鈥檚 grandmother, 17-year-old Danielle Johnson, of Stanton, learned that black and white television was the cutting-edge technology when her elder was young.听

鈥淭hey would wait all day to watch one program,鈥� Johnson said, 鈥渁nd it was really a social event for them.鈥�听

鈥淭he lady I interviewed touched back on respect and how since we鈥檝e had technology we have lost respect for authority,鈥� she said. 鈥�I didn鈥檛 really notice it until we started talking and then I thought, wait, we don鈥檛 really respect the police anymore, we don鈥檛 respect our leader. We just kind of think we鈥檙e on the same level as them. That鈥檚 not how it was when they were younger, so they think that鈥檚 a big change.鈥�听

Johnson said the discussion made her look at her perception of the world a little differently.听

鈥�She听had an interesting听viewpoint. She said she doesn鈥檛 think we鈥檙e progressing or declining. She thinks every time we progress, we decline a little bit, and when we decline, we progress a little bit more in other things, so it kind of evens it out.听I can see that,鈥� Johnson said.听

Seventeen-year-old听Kryn听Humphrey, of Stanton, also interviewed her friend鈥檚 grandmother and learned about her strict upbringing attending a Catholic school.听

鈥淪he said overall we鈥檙e a good country. We鈥檒l always be able to progress, but we鈥檒l also decline in some areas,鈥� she said.听

Stancil said the activity is meant to open dialog to help students take into consideration other viewpoints and explore other beliefs and opinions as they analyze a topic.听

鈥淭hese interviews gave life to our in-class discussions and will propel the next leg of research,鈥� Stancil said. 鈥淭he project is fascinating in that it unites sociology, media literacy and composition. The students seem to be enjoying the project and are really showing creativity and critical thinking in the process,鈥� he said.听

Stancil said the students will build upon their research throughout the semester, and the project will culminate in a theory essay in which they prove a trend exists and theorize potential causes.听

Dual enrollment at 色欲王朝 allows students to take college-level courses while still in high school and receive both high school and college credit. Through dual enrollment, students can take up to 10 college classes, and their high school helps pay tuition and fees up to an approved dollar amount.听

For more information about dual enrollment, visit听听or call (989) 328-1277.