They can learn!

[mustang54]

 I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!

[dukesdad]

Who is "they"?

[mustang54]

Who is "they"?

High school students.

[dukesdad]

Who ever said high school students couldn't learn? The colleges are full of ex high school students

[markberwyn]

I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!

What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?

I attended the University of Chicago after graduating from Morton West. So I count as one of mustang's success stories. How successful? Well, let me tell you: The U of C educated me so well that I would never be so foolish as to argue that the Morton schools do well by their students just because one of them occasionally escapes into a top-tier college.

[mustang54]

I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!

What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?

I attended the University of Chicago after graduating from Morton West. So I count as one of mustang's success stories. How successful? Well, let me tell you: The U of C educated me so well that I would never be so foolish as to argue that the Morton schools do well by their students just because one of them occasionally escapes into a top-tier college.

I posted this for people who comment like its doomsday for a high school age student to go to Morton. "One of them OCCASIONALLY escapes into a top tier college?" There are more than you think going to top notch schools. MIT has a few Morton kids there. So do other top notch schools. The point I was trying to make was if a student wants a good education it is there for the taking. I read a story of a former Morton student who earned enough college credits through AP classes at Morton that he entered U.I.C as a junior not a freshman this year. There are more success stories than most people think. But there are the haters who just don't want to hear anything about success at 201.

[markberwyn]

I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!

What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?

I attended the University of Chicago after graduating from Morton West. So I count as one of mustang's success stories. How successful? Well, let me tell you: The U of C educated me so well that I would never be so foolish as to argue that the Morton schools do well by their students just because one of them occasionally escapes into a top-tier college.

I posted this for people who comment like its doomsday for a high school age student to go to Morton. "One of them OCCASIONALLY escapes into a top tier college?" There are more than you think going to top notch schools. MIT has a few Morton kids there. So do other top notch schools. The point I was trying to make was if a student wants a good education it is there for the taking. I read a story of a former Morton student who earned enough college credits through AP classes at Morton that he entered U.I.C as a junior not a freshman this year. There are more success stories than most people think. But there are the haters who just don't want to hear anything about success at 201.

What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?

[markberwyn]

FWIW, I haven't been able to find an answer to my question. But by just about every metric, the Morton schools are awful. To say otherwise is to sugarcoat or to serve as some politician's tool:

http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getReport.aspx?year=2010&code=140162010_e.pdf

It is condescending and ignorant to point to one student's success and claim it is representative of anything besides one student's success.

[markberwyn]

"I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can." Is this to say that if a student doesn't go to a top-tier school it is entirely their own fault? The shortcomings of the teachers and the administration and parents are never to be held to account? If a student chooses to learn but then does not succeed because of the school's shortcomings, is that solely the fault of the student?

[markberwyn]

Sorry, but I'm really bothered by this "you can learn if you choose to" business. It's terribly privileged and condescending---reminiscent of the "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" bigotry that people use on the poor. It is not a sentence that somebody living in reality would write.

I suspect there are a lot of students in the Morton district who don't recognize in themselves the capacity to make that choice---or feel that such a choice might be worth making. And, on the evidence of the district stats, they're receiving paltry support from the institutions around them.

[markberwyn]

Read this story and think of the support system, outside and within Morton, that the young man has had from a very early age. Then think about all the Morton students who aren't similarly supported, and why that might be.

http://highschoolcubenews.com/2014/09/26/henricksen-mortons-perez-harvard-special-story/

[Good Time Charlie]

I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!

What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?

I attended the University of Chicago after graduating from Morton West. So I count as one of mustang's success stories. How successful? Well, let me tell you: The U of C educated me so well that I would never be so foolish as to argue that the Morton schools do well by their students just because one of them occasionally escapes into a top-tier college.

I posted this for people who comment like its doomsday for a high school age student to go to Morton. "One of them OCCASIONALLY escapes into a top tier college?" There are more than you think going to top notch schools. MIT has a few Morton kids there. So do other top notch schools. The point I was trying to make was if a student wants a good education it is there for the taking. I read a story of a former Morton student who earned enough college credits through AP classes at Morton that he entered U.I.C as a junior not a freshman this year. There are more success stories than most people think. But there are the haters who just don't want to hear anything about success at 201.

What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?

Probably not many!

[mustang54]

  Markberwyn thanks for posting the articles. The one with the statistics is from I believe 2009? I was surprised by the numbers because the last ones I saw were worse a year or so before. In the article the student made the point I was trying to make and he did it better than I did. It is possible.
  Now getting to the points in your posts I have too agree with you on pretty much everything you said. People who know me well would tell you I have always considered Morton as the school of waisted talent and broken dreams. I've believed that for many years and still do today. Trust me Mark I don't know the last time you were through the halls of Morton during a school day but I spent 7 long years as a volunteer at that place and if I wrote a book about what I saw and heard it would make you and others sick. That's why I am no longer helping out
  I also believe Morton is no different than any other school with similar demographics or funding. And I HATE that. I refuse to believe kids cannot be taught because their parents did not go to college or aren't financially stable. To me money and demographics are a crutch used by the adults. Morton has always been and seems will always be an adult driven district. And again Mark I can give you examples of that for hours.
  My post was about one kid then added another. They are not the only two I've seen. There are more. But I agree with you again there is no where near the numbers of success stories that their should be. Especially with over 8,000 students.

[markberwyn]

I don't think we're really on the same page here. You say that "money and demographics are a crutch used by the adults," after arguing that students alone have to shoulder the burden of their own success. But the success story you're pointing to was very much the product of financial resources and added attention provided to a talented and underprivileged kid. How, then, are money and demographics a "crutch"? They strike me as utterly critical considerations.

What do you mean by "adult-driven district"? Who should be driving the district, if not adults? Children? If that's the case, then you're back to condescending bootstrapping rhetoric.

[mustang54]

I don't think we're really on the same page here. You say that "money and demographics are a crutch used by the adults," after arguing that students alone have to shoulder the burden of their own success. But the success story you're pointing to was very much the product of financial resources and added attention provided to a talented and underprivileged kid. How, then, are money and demographics a "crutch"? They strike me as utterly critical considerations.

What do you mean by "adult-driven district"? Who should be driving the district, if not adults? Children? If that's the case, then you're back to condescending bootstrapping rhetoric.

Thankfully you and I will NEVER be on the same page. You still insist on playing your silly mind games. Adult driven means the choices made there are made FOR the adults NOT the students. I first heard that phrase from an administrator there a month after being hired. I asked the difference between 201 and other districts they worked at. That's how I meant it. The lack of money and the demographics are used by adults as an excuse for the poor performance of the adults but blame the kids and parents. And that isn't only at Morton. In the news article the kid and the coach pretty much said what I did in my post. But as usual you try to twist what someone says to play your game. Again, enough of you have a nice day.

[markberwyn]

I don't think we're really on the same page here. You say that "money and demographics are a crutch used by the adults," after arguing that students alone have to shoulder the burden of their own success. But the success story you're pointing to was very much the product of financial resources and added attention provided to a talented and underprivileged kid. How, then, are money and demographics a "crutch"? They strike me as utterly critical considerations.

What do you mean by "adult-driven district"? Who should be driving the district, if not adults? Children? If that's the case, then you're back to condescending bootstrapping rhetoric.

Thankfully you and I will NEVER be on the same page. You still insist on playing your silly mind games. Adult driven means the choices made there are made FOR the adults NOT the students. I first heard that phrase from an administrator there a month after being hired. I asked the difference between 201 and other districts they worked at. That's how I meant it. The lack of money and the demographics are used by adults as an excuse for the poor performance of the adults but blame the kids and parents. And that isn't only at Morton. In the news article the kid and the coach pretty much said what I did in my post. But as usual you try to twist what someone says to play your game. Again, enough of you have a nice day.

Again, I think you suffer from a confused mental model about what works best in education. The very first sentence of your first post insists that all the responsibility falls on the students' shoulders for success. And you keep repeating this canard that "money and demographics" are some kind of "crutch" and "excuse," as if they don't matter. Somehow, in your mind, if the school district concerns itself with money and demographics, they are looking after their own interests and not the students'. Again, those things are utterly crucial. As I've said, I'm a Morton graduate who went to a top-tier college, and I understand this. If you'd like me to explain it to you in more detail, let me know.

Bottom line: Your insistence that the students must carry the burden of their own educational success is itself a crutch.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!

+1.  Congratulations to Weisner and his family.  They must be very proud of both sons.

[markberwyn]

For what it's worth, I still haven't come across any data showing what percentage of Morton graduates go to a four-year college. But I did find an interesting metric showing that 18 percent of Morton graduates are ready for college coursework.

http://illinoisreportcard.com/District.aspx?source=Trends&source2=ReadyforCollegeCourseWork&Districtid=06016201017

Eighteen percent.

[markberwyn]

So I suppose, by mustang's logic, 82 percent of Morton's student body is *choosing* not to learn.

[watcher]

So I suppose, by mustang's logic, 82 percent of Morton's student body is *choosing* not to learn.

They might not be learning what's on the tests used to arrive at that percentage, but they're learning their place
in this brave new world. What could go wrong?