YOUTH CONGRESS TAKES SCHOOLS TO TASK.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer Perhaps the most enticing aspect for the 100 area high school students attending the 14th annual Youth Congress on Saturday was the practice of articulating and listening to ideas. It's something many agreed is often lacking in their schools, which educators believe are not adequately preparing them for college. ``College standards are getting higher and high school standards are getting lower,'' said Amber Christopherson, an Agoura High School Agoura High School is a four-year high school, freshman-senior, in Agoura Hills, California, United States. It is the largest high school in the Las Virgenes Unified School District, with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. senior and the Congress' registration subcommittee chairwoman. ``Many of us will take the ideas we have and try to implement them in our own schools.'' The Youth Congress gathering, at the Ronald Reagan Library, was sponsored by the Conejo/Las Virgenes Future Foundation, a consortium of business, educational and community leaders. Concerns at round table discussions centered on the lack of student motivation, poor curriculum, the role of teachers and the need for updated classroom resources. The solution, stressed author and futurist William Knoke, the conference's keynote speaker, is a greater emphasis toward hands-on learning - everything from field trips to replace some classroom lecturing to foreign exchange trips to learn a second language. ``If the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. does not put education at a higher priority, it will become a Third World country in the next century,'' Knoke said. Students, once competing in a national economy, are now competing in a global one with Shanghai, Mexico City Mexico City Spanish Ciudad de México City (pop., 2000: city, 8,605,239; 2003 metro. area est., 18,660,000), capital of Mexico. Located at an elevation of 7,350 ft (2,240 m), it is officially coterminous with the Federal District, which occupies 571 sq mi and Seoul offering stiff competition, he said. As a result, American graduate schools of science, biotechnology and engineering often have enrollments dominated by foreign students, he said. ``The United States system is not adequately preparing its students to be interested enough or skilled enough to get into these graduate programs,'' Knoke said. The purpose of the Congress, said Lili Wang Lili Wang (March 6 1971 - October 12 2002) was a graduate student at North Carolina State University murdered by another graduate student named Richard Anderson. On that day, Anderson shot and killed her while she was playing tennis. , a Thousand Oaks High School Thousand Oaks High School is a high school established in 1962 and located in Thousand Oaks, California. It is a California Distinguished School, and offers curriculum at all levels for Thousand Oaks students. The mascot is the lancer. junior, is to stress the importance of learning. While high schools have a more structured format, colleges offer more freedom that allows students to slack off if they are not self-motivated, she said. ``A student needs to try to use that freedom to learn,'' Wang said. High school students are often taught at the same pace, despite the fact that classes consist of students with varying degrees of learning, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Knoke. He called for smaller classrooms so teachers can offer more individualized instruction Individualized instruction is a method of instruction in which content, instructional materials, instructional media, and pace of learning are based upon the abilities and interests of each individual learner. to accommodate each student's learning pace. A frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: Christopherson recalled an English class, which she said consisted of classroom lectures and nonconstructive criticism on essays. ``I learned nothing,'' she said. ``There was no reason to.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color in Simi Edition only) Futurist Bill Knoke speaks to participants of the 14th annual Youth Congress held Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi. (2) Newbury Park High 11th grader Kamyar Hasseinian asks a question of Knoke. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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