Even good schools face difficulties

Haiyun Weng of San Diego is the author of “Psychology” one of the five most compelling stories submitted to the Right To Learn Campaign.

Haiyun Weng of Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego knows even the state’s best schools have their own challenges.

“I don’t see the fights at school, but I do experience a lot of teachers that don’t have any idea what they’re talking about,” Weng said. “I like my school but we need to get rid of the bad teachers and have smaller class sizes.”

Take her psychology class, for example, where they were told to “color gingerbread men” and were “tested on topics that [the teacher] could not explain herself.” While Weng was eventually able to transfer out of that class, other problems remain.

Class choices are diminishing. Some of the college courses that were offered at her school are also disappearing because colleges couldn’t accommodate the school’s schedule change back to a six-period day.

“I don’t usually rebel against the system, but if I see a change that needs to be made, I step up and do it,” she explains. “In our schools, there are changes that need to be made now.”

Weng would like to have the opportunity to take more advanced classes, like economics or AP music theory, both of which, she said, have plenty of students who want to take them. She hopes the economics class would help train her to open her own business some day.

Weng is involved in a variety of clubs and extracurricular activities at Scripps Ranch, and is particularly proud of the Darfur Action Week hosted by one of those clubs last year.

“We sold shirts and told everyone what was happening in Darfur right now,” she said. “It was nice when people asked what was going on and they were affected by it.”

She is the president of the Community Service Club, where she helps organize events where her peers can go out and support needy communities. Most recently, the club helped renovate the Southern Sudanese Refugee Center in San Diego.

In her free time, Weng spends tries to spend time with her friends. She lives with her mom, dad and grandparents. She loves to write stories, read novels, and magazines. She also designs webpage and plays the piano.

Tags: class choice, community service, haiyun, San Diego, Scripps Ranch, teacher quality, weng