Big vs. small school debate takes many turns

Editor’s Note: Student Union is written by students at Brewer High School, Hermon High School, John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Schenck High School in East Millinocket, Searsport District High School and Stearns High School in Millinocket. The weekly column is a joint effort among the schools, the Bangor Daily News and Acadia Hospital. This week’s column was written by Searsport District High School students. Their adviser is Kathleen Jenkins.

A few days ago, Ethan and I were sitting around talking, as usual, and the subject of school sizes came up. Turns out we have opposing views on what size a school should be. Is it better to be in a big school, or do small-school students have the upper hand?

“I really love the size of our school,” I blurted out.

“It wouldn’t hurt to be bigger,” he said.

“But you can get lost in a big school. I don’t want to spend an hour looking for my physics class,” I said.

“That just makes every day an adventure,” he responded.

“Yeah, an adventure on how to make your way up a crowded hallway without drilling a tunnel through the lockers. And of course the great locker hunt! I don’t feel like looking for locker number 1390. I’ll stick with 250, thanks,” I snapped.

“At least there will be enough lockers to go around, and I won’t have to share with Mr. GymSocks,” he said.

“But you know the name of the guy who’s sharing with you. In a big school you’re about as personal as a goldfish in a pet store, completely faceless and known as that guy with the really big nose,” I said sarcastically, with an added eye roll.

“Anyway, I don’t want to know their names, and I could care less if they know mine,” he said.

“So you’re saying you don’t like walking down a hallway where everyone is friendly and if you needed to you could call them by name?” I asked.

“Exactly,” Ethan replied. “I like to have the chance to start fresh each day and get to know people. I’ve been with the same small group of people since kindergarten. It’s starting to get a little old.”

“Well, that’s a plus,” I conceded, “but I’d rather already know people, and in a small school everybody’s friendly.”

“But in a big school, there are more classes to choose from,” Ethan said. “I could take Latin, Advanced Placement history, criminology – classes that aren’t offered at small schools.”

“Yeah, but what about student-teacher ratio?” I asked. “I’d love to take Latin but not with another 42 students. What if I don’t understand conjugation? Who can I go to for help? I could always ask my teacher, but in a big school, she’d have to make an appointment. At small schools, I don’t have to be penciled in.”

“And what about extracurricular?” Ethan said. “There’s every sport under the sun, volleyball, wrestling, football, cross-country skiing, swimming … we don’t even have a football team at Searsport! And what about clubs? At a big school, I can join chess club, gymnastics, archery. Name it and they’ve got a club for it!”

“It’s great to have all those, but when do you have the time? You’re taking Latin, AP history and criminology along with your core classes,” I reminded him. “Sounds like a lot of homework to me. You could always do the work in your study hall that contains 149 other students. Exactly how much studying can you get done with the noise volume equal to the nosebleed section at a Metallica concert?”

“The pep rallies sound that way too,” Ethan quipped, “unlike walking into one of ours, and mistaking it for a funeral service.”

“When the bell rings though, how many students will you be scraping off the floor?” I asked him.

“About as many as there are sitting down at one of our school dances,” he replied.

“Or the number of students ahead of you in the cafeteria line?” I said. “I like eating my food sitting down, not while I’m waiting to pay.”

“At least I’ll be challenged to do better,” he said. “The competition in the classroom at a big school raises aspirations.”

“That is if you are smart enough to be in a college prep course. Otherwise you’re stuck in ‘general,'” I reminded him. “I get a chance at every class.”

Since our discussion turned into nothing more than a heated debate, we’ll leave the decision up to you. Big school or small school?