Battling Labels

What do ASU honors business students encounter when they enter a typical Camelback High School classroom for the first time? For the most part, a very different world from the one they had known in high school.

Although Camelback is situated near one of the city’s most elite neighborhoods, many students travel extended distances by city bus to get there. The student population is highly diverse. The breakdown is about 60 percent Hispanic, 9 percent African American, and 6 percent Native American and Asian American. Many students are considered low-income, and about 44 percent are on a reduced lunch program.

Academically, the students struggle a great deal. The AIMS (Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards) tests completed by Camelback’s sophomores in 2000 demonstrated certain shortcomings. Only 13 percent of students met the standard in the writing portion of the test. Only 6 percent met the standard in mathematics. Not one student exceeded the standards in either area.

Elizabeth Edwards is an ASU student participating in the Camelback Rodel program. She says that that low self-esteem and a lack of confidence in their own ability to succeed was prevalent among the students.

“One kid in class kept saying to us, ‘You know we’re called a failing school, don’t you?’ There is very much a sense of being labeled, and it’s demoralizing for them,” she says.

In addition to their job of conducting research and creating a business plan, the Rodel scholars serve a vital role as mentors. They stand before the class, every week for an entire school year, as flesh-and-blood examples of what the young students could themselves achieve if they choose to shake off the labels and continue their education.—Jessica McCann