History in Our Everyday Lives

Demographics

Glasgow High School is one of three high schools within the Christina School District and population mainly comprised of African American, white, and Hispanic students; nearly 50% of the student population is African American, while 26% is white and 20% is Hispanic.¹ Nearly 40% of the student population at Glasgow is considered “low income” and 20% of the students have special needs.² Unfortunately, the school suffers from a rather infamous reputation due to several factors, including the proportion of student body bussed in from the crime-ridden city of Wilmington, an ever-rotating staff and administration, and its consistent failure to meet state standards with regards to high-stakes test scores. The school is steadily decreasing in population not only due to the “choice” application process, but also due to the increasing appeal of vocational-technical schools and the recent expansion of a local desirable charter school. Within the past five years, Glasgow’s enrollment has dropped from 1,200 students to under 1,000.³

I am one of two teachers at Glasgow High School; both of us teach the beginning-level art class, Art Fundamentals, but then we each teach different successive classes; I teach 3D Design I and II while the other art teacher is responsible for 2D Design I and II. Students who take art (among other electives) are likely to be placed in classes that have students from mixed grade levels and extremely diverse academic abilities. Students taking 3D Design II, an advanced art course, range in age from grades 11 to 12 and in academic ability from honors-level to “High School Certificate of Completion” (as opposed to earning an actual diploma). Student population in 3D Design II classes is relatively unpredictable (as there are several choices for art classes beyond the first year, and as students are required to pass two pre-requisite courses to be allowed entry into 3D Design II), but class sizes are generally under 30 students. Furthermore, because I am the only teacher for both 3D Design II and 3D Design I, unless a student has transferred from another school, I have probably taught him or her for at least one year prior.

It is also possible that students enrolled in 3D Design II are fulfilling the final class within their Career Pathway; every student graduating from a secondary school in Delaware must have a Career Pathway, which means that he or she must successfully complete three chronologically successive electives. At Glasgow High School, this may mean that a student completes Art Fundamentals, 3D Design I, and then 3D Design II in order to fulfill his or her Career Pathway. It is critical for students who are utilizing this specific Career Pathway to successfully pass 3D Design II.