After two years creating a vision of ‘equity,’ Triton High has made the concept a high priority for students this year. 

“We spent two years aligning our vision of equity — we want to be equal to all students,” said Principal Patrick Kelley. 

In his fifth year as principal, Kelley is pushing forward the movement to make all individuals here feel welcome throughout the year. 

The Triton Voice sat down with Kelley and asked, in detail, how students may see this change evolving.

The Equity Movement

The term ‘equity’ is rooted in the notion of belonging. The movement is Kelley’s highest priority for the 2023-2024 school year. While not a state requirement, Kelley insisted that this push for students to feel equal managed to bring the idea to fruition. 

“You as a student should have more say in what you are learning about,” he began. 

For starters, some may notice that there has been a wider range in English literature choices, including books dealing with new themes and experimenting with authors of different backgrounds, rather than the old showcase of only white male authors. 

Teachers Heather Walter and Ivan Ferron have also started up the Culture Club. This came about after an incident involving race and belonging issues at Triton. The Culture Club hosts meetings and events, such as read-alouds in the elementary schools.

Another large step in moving the goal forward begins in the history department. Kelley remarked on his vision for the future of Triton’s World History-related courses. 

“You’ve talked about Africa or India being colonized,” said Kelley. “Let’s talk about the perspectives of those who lived there prior to all that. What’s going on there?”

Kelley said his motivation leapt forward when student survey responses about our school differed for specific categories of individuals, such as low-income members of Triton. 

He intends for students to feel more comfortable with their surroundings: “students learn best from people they trust.” 

He said that the administrators are worried for those who feel misplaced, and they understand the impact these things can have on someone’s learning experience. 

The Viking Block

The biggest change to this school year’s schedule was the addition of the “Viking Block.” This period runs every day for thirty minutes after third period. Students stay in their third period class for Viking Block, as a means of getting make-up work done for that teacher or finishing homework. Having the period once a day will allow for students to not fall behind.

This addition caused the removal of the advisory period, which ran for twenty minutes every Wednesday. Advisory gave students a chance to get to know one teacher in particular over the course of their high school career. 

“With any change there is a tradeoff. Without advisory, there are certain aspects of the school year that will be missed,” said Kelley, “It’s not typical for 15 students to have talked to the superintendent on a weekly basis.” 

The removal of the advisory period takes away from some of the student-teacher bonding experiences in Triton. There won’t be as many opportunities for students to form relationships with the faculty in the school. 

“Not having advisory means I have to work harder to build up those relationships,” Kelley said. However, Kelley also noted that the guidance seminar period can still provide students with a chance to get to know a faculty member, just on a larger scale. 

Guidance seminar is a four-year program that students go through during their high school years. This period will hopefully take over the role of advisory while we have Viking Block this school year. 

Additions to the Bathrooms

Triton students know about the havoc that consistently rampages through our bathrooms. “Our taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for student vandalism,” Kelley stated.

Due to vandalism, the school has stationed teachers outside bathrooms, as well as recent vape detectors. Teachers will track the times students enter and exit the bathrooms, while detectors are to prevent students from vaping or smoking.

In the boys’ bathroom, dividers have been put in place between urinals, per requests from prior years. Renovations from new doors to refreshing displays were also installed with the intention of cleanliness for students.