When Cliff Tompson took over Española Middle School as the new principal in July, he brought with him a vision of what he wanted to accomplish: to turn the nearly 500 students at his school into “wise young leaders.”
Now, with one semester under his belt, Tompson said some progress has been made toward his goal, but there is plenty of road ahead.
“You know, I would like to tell you it’s gotten a lot better,” he said. “We’ve had a slight decrease in the number of fistfights.”
Physical fights have been a noted problem at the Middle School for years, with top officials from the Española School District often discussing the issue in meetings
Emmanuel Espinoza, a math teacher at the Middle School, said the problem of fighting goes back to when he started his career in the classroom.
“It’s happened before,” he said. “It’s always been there.”
He attributed the cause of the problem to a history of gang violence in local schools, especially since the Middle School sees students from completely different towns together the first time.
While Espinoza said gang violence has decreased with the introduction of school uniforms and other initiatives, fights still occur, especially with the rise of social media. Students, he said, will often stage fights so others can post them on various social media outlets.
Tompson said it is key they strike a proper tone when talking to students in order to get the response they are looking for.
“It’s essential that we as a faculty learn how to better respond to our kids when they’re upset,” he said.
Tompson and Espinoza said this is achieved by not approaching students in an antagonistic fashion, rather trying to show them how their actions got them in trouble in the first place.
“When they’re fighting, or they come in angry, and a teacher is harping on them, they snap at you,” Espinoza said.
Learning culture
The District has also funded various in-service for trainings, such as Capturing Kids’ Hearts, which informs teachers how to create positive relationships with students. One method is greeting each student with a fist bump or handshake before they enter class.
Espinoza said fist bumps have already become an expectation of his students.
“There was one day the whole year I didn’t shake their hands, and they walk in and said, ‘What’s wrong?’” he said. “They were used to it.”
While Tompson said more needs to be done to achieve his goal of creating wise leaders, Espinoza said he has already seen a positive change in many of his students.
“I’ve seen them studying a lot,” he said. “I’ve seen so many kids that are trying to do better.”
Since so many students in the District come from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, Espinoza said it is important to take that into consideration as a teacher. He lets all of his students retake their exams if they want to, but they have to ask first.
“You need to understand where these kids are coming from,” he said.
Tompson said, going forward, it will be up to him to ensure the culture of the school changes for the better.
“We need a new way of doing things to get there, and as the principal of the school it’s incumbent upon me to help us get there,” he said.
Not dumb
When asked how the Middle School plans to get students and families to buy into the changes, Espinoza told a story about the first class he taught in the District.
He said the class would often refer to themselves as “the dumb kids” and were still learning general math in middle school, not pre-algebra or any higher level.
Espinoza said he insisted on them learning higher levels of math, and by the end of the semester his students were excelling in algebra and other subjects.
“It just took that idea of them doing that,” he said. “I think the support of the administration was there, that’s important.”
Espinoza said he accomplished this by letting students find their own way to solve the problem, showing them the various ways a problem could be solved.
“There is a correct answer, but there are many different ways to get to it,” he said.
To improve the culture of the Middle School, he said, they must embrace the same philosophy—the path is different for every student.