My experience at SPA and perspective on the sexual harassment incident
I posted this as a comment on Pleasant_Contest2174's post, but I wanted to post it on its own. I changed a few things to make it make sense as a stand-alone post. I'm a high school student at SPA, and this is my experience at the school and perspective on the sexual harassment incident.
It was really hard for me to watch my classmates and friends be harassed and treated terribly. And when the administration did little to address it, many people grew frustrated, and trust in Ottley's leadership eroded. It hurt our grade at the time, and Ottley's attempt to improve the situation completely missed the mark. I'd like to say that the teachers at SPA are wonderful and great at their jobs. I don't think SPA is perfect, but I think the education is high quality, thanks in large part to the teachers. Another thing I like about SPA is my friends and classmates. There are really awesome people there, and our junior retreat this spring really brought people together in a meaningful way. So while Ottley and some people at our school have damaged our community, I think we've been able to create a supportive environment as much as possible. I've felt the curriculum has been good. As for the censorship, I witnessed Ottley remove the Rubicon article covering the sexual harassment and administration's response from the website, which was highly concerning to me and felt like an overreach of power. Free speech is incredibly important for a functioning democracy, and by silencing voices, Ottley is creating a terrible leadership example for SPA students. I believe that what makes my SPA experience valuable is the strong education, the teachers, my friends, and the community. That's what matters. Ottley is not helping our high school experience, but we are making it meaningful anyway. The strength of a community lies in the students, teachers, friendships, and bonds.