Ilima Intermediate Vision and Mission reflection

Ilima Intermediate School Vsion: Kulia I ka Nu'u - Strive for the Summit.

Ilima's summit is college and career readiness for all students!

Ilima Intermediate Mission Statement: Through Teamwork and perseverance, Ilima Intermediate will achieve high expectations.

Vision

         First off, I feel like the vision is inaccurate to what the school is doing and also should be changed. Why would we need to prepare for college when we don't know what we'll take in college, if we even go to college at all. Furthermore, less and less careers require lessons taught in school, as they have a more open and friendly environment. Careers are becoming less and less just sitting in an office, and more talking with other people in an open conversation. The American school system as it currently is was created for industrial age factory workers, who were told to be quiet and do as told. How in the world is Ilima supposed to get people ready for a career fundamentally different from school? Also, there are four more years to get ready for college and careers. They call it high school.

         I would change the vision to not have college and career readiness in it. I feel like the vision should include making students smarter and more mature when they end eighth grade than when they start seventh. Ilima students should be independent and resourceful. Ilima's summit should be students becoming better people; students becoming mature young adults that value learning and strive to do more of it. That coincidentally is in line with college and career readiness, but it applies to so much more. It helps with high school, courtship, friendship, travel, and retirement.

Mission

         I feel like the mission is not being met in this school. It says that through teamwork Ilima will achieve high expectations. I know of a great many students at this school who do not even have respect for one another. In social studies, two of my classmates had an argument about foreheads! Students swear all the time to each other. People use their phones in class, chew gum, and generally cause mischief. While some people are being delinquents, the others are rowdy and chatty. Who are they talking about? Why, the people breaking the rules, of course! When half the school is disrespectful, how can Ilima work as a team? If the school can change this, then the mission will come a reality. However, "high expectations" is a bit vague. High State Testing scores? Exemplar behavior? High school readiness? What is a high expectation?