By Oliver Molina
Antioch High school, located in outer Nashville is mostly known for its lackluster stats. According to greatschools.org Antioch is rated a 2/10. College readiness 2/10, Student progress 2/10 , Equity 1/10 , and Test scores are 1/10. These scores were all below average and this builds a stigma of Antioch being an underperforming school. For 7 years Antioch has been known as a school filled with students who don’t care for education. This stigma is not at all true. We have students that truly care but they don’t have the right resources. The fact Antioch high is a public school means they can’t just make a class for YIG/MUN, so they decide between in-school meetings which are very difficult due to conflicting with class time and other clubs, and doing after school is hard too because people don’t have rides or the time they might have a job or go babysit their siblings. Other factors like financial situations stop students from Antioch from joining clubs like YIG. Many students in Antioch High want to learn and join clubs but can’t and it gets overlooked by everyone outside of Antioch.
The Propaganda against Antioch High
Recently, a blog titled “Antioch neighborhood terrorized by students
skipping school”. This hurt the AHS student body and AHS as a whole. The students who commit crimes, cut class and do anything to make the news. Therefore the majority of the students that want to learn, go to conferences and represent their schools. The real Antioch does not get noticed by the media enough to be noticed for their hard work and efforts. Those same students get ignored by many others, but YIG helps those students by giving recognition and information.
The Interviews
Youssoupha Charles
OM – “Why do you think Antioch has a bad reputation?”
YC – “ I think Antioch has a bad reputation because we are in a lower income area and in lower
income areas we tend to have students who aren’t able to afford things there is a higher
crime rate and a lot of those times we get overlooked because we are lower income”
OM – “ How does YIG help out Antioch from an educational standpoint?”
YC – I think YIG can be very beneficial to Antioch because as you can see alot of our students
are ready standing out we are asking a whole lot of questions I think this is really just character
building and why Antioch stands out and I also believe this also gives another opportunity to see
careers and give them a lot of guidance on how professional you can be.”
OM – “How can you help out Antioch?”
YC – “ I already made strides to help out Antioch. Currently, I have a website called AHS
NewsBears which basically meant to raise the reading levels of our students and while also
giving intriguing stories that capture their attention”
Demaruis Webster
OM – “ Why do you think Antioch has a bad reputation?”
DW – “ Antioch has a bad reputation because normally the more negative students stand out
more because they are going out and going to jail and vandalizing property when the mass
majority of Antioch students are actually in school doing school they are just unrecognized
because what they are doing is good and the media only promotes negativity.”
OM – “ How can YIG help out Antioch in an educational Standpoint?”
Dw – “ I think is very important for Antioch as gives people from Antioch an opportunity for
downtown Nashville and how governing works in downtown nashville it gives you the chance to
meet new people and be more like minded and respectful so it takes away all that negativity.’
OM- “ How can you help out Antioch”
DW- “ What can I do to improve Antioch is hard because Antioch is a very good school overall.
I believe we just need a little more teachers that actually respect and like the students and if we
can get teachers that like the environment that would make Antioch a top tier school.”
Abdoulaye Charles
OM – “ Why do you think Antioch’s rep is bad”
AC- “ I feel like due to the media and other people telling us we are bad people and bad
students. I’m not declining the fact that we don’t have students that do bad stuff and get caught
,but that’s a small number compared to the numerous students that want to learn but can’t
because they are given the opportunity due to being in a lower income area. Many people told
me like I do drugs or smoke to relieve stress, not to look cool. They have to deal with stress of
school and having a lot of pressure.”
OM- “ How does YIG help Antioch in a Educational standpoint”
AC “ YIG is a branch that can help our students learn more about the laws that truly affect
them. Outside of the Bills stuff it gives them skills like communication and gives them a path of
professionalism. Our school being public means we can’t have a YIG/MUN class meaning after
school meetings not everyone can go to that which stops them from going to YIG.”
OM- “ How can you help out Antioch”
AC- I can help out Antioch by setting an example on how even though I’m from Antioch I can be
successful just like the private school kids. I can talk to them and show them that programs like
YIG help you understand life after Antioch.”
Cyrah Miller
OM -’’Why do you think Antioch high school has a bad reputation?’’
CM -“I think Antioch has a bad reputation because due to the people of color in a community
and how the stigma on how people of color act and like they’re not smart at all and there’s a
lot of people color in Antioch high school that’s why he has a bad reputation.”
OM- “How can YIG help out Antioch from an educational standpoint?”
CM – ”As a person who wasn’t really into government stuff until last year when I got into YIG.
He is also a very good educational program and it really just brings youth engagement to the
community. You learn about stuff that happens around you every single day and you may like
doing government stuff. Maybe you might not like doing government stuff but you still will have a
good time that’s a guarantee. It make you want to come back to you again like not just only you
make me want to learn more stuff outside of the classroom which will be great for in your high
school and that all starts with youth in government.”
OM- “ What can you do to improve Antioch?”
CM- “For me to improve Antioch i’ll be a friend to those who really need help those who don’t
know what they’re doing and like tell them that you don’t have to be perfect because there’s a
stigma that you need to be perfect for you to be successful which is not true.”
Akiles Pineda
OM -Why do you think Antioch has a bad reputation
AP – For the younger generation they always had a bad reputation. Back in the past a few
decades ago they didn’t have a bad rep but now they have a bad reputation for the younger
generation they are clearly lost.
OM – how do you think Yig helps Antioch in an educational standpoint
AP – YIG could actually help to exercise these students’ brains to further understand and further
develop their mind when it comes to the law and for them to understand that their voice matters
that they can be smart too
OM -What can you yourself can do to help out Antioch
AP – I feel like for myself I can help to advertise YIG and Redcon 1 for the students of Antioch.
Doing this would further help the students of Antioch find out how to properly exercise through
their brains and their body.
Abel Kebede
OM – “Why do you think Antioch’s rep is bad?”
AK – “I believe Antioch has a bad reputation because it is what it expected of the students from
people outside of the school and the students follow that expectations because thats the only
thing they hear, and if the students were given the opportunity and given a good reputation it
could help the students get to the level that we expect them to as Antioch High School.”
OM – How can YIG help Antioch in an educational standpoint
AK – “YIG can help Antioch in an educational standpoint by giving students a political
perspective. They will learn about bills and legislation and all that sort of stuff and it will expand
their knowledge in Tennessee legislation.”
OM – “How can you personally improve Antioch?
AK – “I can help personally improve Antioch by recruiting students to educational programs like
YIG , DECA , and MUN and help students become more interested in programs like this which
can in turn help them broaden their horizons.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that YIG is very helpful for a school like Antioch. We, as Antioch students, are very thankful for having this opportunity. Being allowed into youth in government, to showcase our professionalism, and talents are gifts we will cherish. Antioch, as shown in the media because of how negative they want to be about us and Antioch’s bad image, is shown through the media which puts all of Antioch away from other schools. Being pushed down removes opportunities that help other schools that get benefited from YIG and MUN. In my opinion, it is beautiful because public schools have unprivileged people that don’t get this opportunity often. This 3-day project really gave me a new standpoint on education and YIG in general.
Department of Public Information 