Lessons from KIPP Ascend School

I decided to do a little observation at KIPP Ascend Charter School, located on the west side of Chicago.

That is a low-income area, but this factor didn't stop the staff and the teachers at KIPP from creating a worthy school program to increase their students' knowledge and bring their testing scores to state level and above.

At KIPP Ascend, everyone is very determined to "Climbing the Mountain to College," as the little kippers say.

I would like to make everyone aware of this school because it sets an example of how schools should be, no matter what it takes: More school teachers, more teamwork, longer school hours, more homework, etc.

This school is standing up thanks to the private funding and public funding it gets, but what would it do if it didn't have the private funding? One can only imagine.

Although I am raised in the suburbs, I believe that parents of such students as myself shouldn't be complaining about their child's school not having a large enough gym -- because schools such as KIPP Ascend don't even have a gym. They use their auditorium to have gym.

Why not stop thinking about ourselves only? As people say "What goes around, comes around." Then, why shouldn't we do something nice if we want people to be nice to us. Even though we come from different races, we are still "One nation under God..."

It is amazing how everyone at KIPP Ascend works as a team.

I believe in everyone in this nation. We are a strong nation. If we could have gone through so many wars and gotten over them, why not end the war on segregation and discrimination?

If we as a nation become more desegregated, we will become even stronger. "Two heads are better than one when it comes to solving problems," as people say.

KIPP Ascend Charter School has a very good quote for everyone to keep in mind throughout life: "No shortcuts. No excuses!"

Stefania Markovska

Arlington Heights