An insightful Frontier Central High School student has posted his views on school curriculum and Common Core rules in an online video. It features a poem he wrote to articulate that students are fed up. WBFO’s Eileen Buckley sat down with the student and his principal to discuss the video titled This Is Genius.
Ryan Lotocki, a Frontier High School junior in Hamburg bluntly opens the video. "School sucks," states Lotocki, grabbing your attention putting his poetry in motion.
"Sometimes that test defines their education and puts them in positions where they really shouldn't be. I think the system, as a whole, can do a better job," said Ryan Lotocki, Frontier Central High School junior.
"As a system, I think we've drifted away from praising the uniqueness of every student and the ways they learn. It's taking a toll on how we learn," said Lotocki in a WBFO News interview.
Lotocki appears on the stage in his school’s auditorium, at first alone then later other students begin to join him. His YouTube video has more than 33,000 views.
"It's gotten worse, especially with all the cuts of funding, the Common Core. It's brought upon more problems in the system, but we value school more than education. I think of them as two different entities," said Lotoki.
Frontier High School Principal Jeffrey Sortisio gave Lotocki permission to record the video, encouraging his creative thought process.
"Ryan is free thinker who is obviously well thought out and willing to share his opinion," said Sortisio. "As for the videoing in the school, I laughed with him yesterday, I said how did you do all that and when did you do it? They did it in a way that was not invasive, it wasn't a disruption at all," noted Sortiso.
Lotocki’s first chance aired his views started when he and some other students were given a chance to meet with their the schools superintendent and school board members. They were asked to talk about positive things at the school, but Lotocki wanted to also provide his observations on things he doesn’t like about school and that’s when he said his thoughts evolved into a poem.
"And Ryan took it in a different way. He was very respectful in how much he does appreciate Frontier High School, and I've charged the student leaders with help me to make this place better, and he's really taken that charge and more than run with it," said Sortisio.
But even with what appears to be a revolution across the state of students, parents and teachers outraged about standardized testing, Lotocki and principal tells WBFO News it’s not just about state tests, but about the performance numbers students must meet.
"I see like them struggle with tests because they may not be the best test takers and sometimes that test defines their education and puts them in positions where they really shouldn't be. I think the system, as a whole, can do a better job," said Lotocki.
"Part of the problem is there is such a vast amount of change in so many layers have changed, piled one on top each other and very difficult to decipher and what it means for the people who do the work and for the people who do the learning," said Sortisio.
"There should be standards, but when standards are the goal and not the base, I think it takes away from the learning experience," said Lotoki.
When Lotocki’s video first went viral he wasn’t sure what to expect, but with a number of positive comments posted, agreeing with the views of the Frontier teens, Lotocki says it could be sending a message that the system is ‘flawed.'