Critical Thinking At Calabasas High School

Critical thinking is an essential skill to employ because it allows ideas to be explored at a deeper level. This creates the brilliant masterminds of the future; however, the creation of ideas without character can be damaging. I believe it is important to be intelligent while compassionate to others’ needs. This can be shown by my time working for the passing of Measure E.

When I arrived at Calabasas High School in August 2013, everything seemed marvelous. Class sizes were small, the student body was not too big, and all students were enjoying themselves in a wide variety of extracurricular activities. Additionally, I began to make new friends and became involved with the cross-country and track and field teams. However, as the days and

weeks

The twenty-first century requires more intelligent people to solve world-wide issues, such as global warming. The quality of education not only affects the students, but affects the country’s ability to solve controversial issues.

Something had to be done at my school.

My first step was to send a comprehensive email to the superintendent and all members of the school board. I explained how the student to teacher ratio was extremely high and that there needed to be a way to reduce it. Our schools are ranked based on how well we do on state standardized tests, so I thought that the top officials of the school district would care to resolve the situation. However, the superintendent explained my principal would be the best person to speak to, so I spoke to her next.

I then spoke to the school principal, who is in charge of balancing the classes at Calabasas High

School. She seemed closer to the situation and wanted to help me, but there was nothing she could do because the school district was lacking the sufficient funds to improve class sizes. At that point I had communicated with all the district officials who could possibly have answers,

I decided to act. I became a phone banker for Measure E, a tax meant to increase school funding.

I want to ensure that all students receive a top quality education and all students should be provided with excellent extra-curricular, volunteer, and athletic opportunities. At the phone banking events, I called several citizens of Calabasas and explained how Measure E, a parcel tax, could make an impact on local students. The residents realized how I profoundly cared about the school district and expressed resounding approval for the measure. They understood that an excellent education is necessary in preparation for college and career. The team and I were triumphant with our efforts, and the measure passed. I realized something that day.

Although there is still more work to be done to make sure that Calabasas High School and the entire Las Virgenes Unified School district improve, Measure E put all the schools on the right track because there is now more funding that in previous years. Class sizes can now be reduced, and families will not have to worry about the music and theater programs getting cut out of the course catalog. Also, there was a threat that CTE classes would be cut, but so far I have