A lack of motivation or uninterest in a subject could be contributing factors in why kids are failing classes. These two problems could be caused by many things like problems at home or simply just being too lazy to try in a class. Both of these reasons can be detrimental to success in school.  

Some believe failing classes could be caused from motivation issues or uninterest in the class, but for others think it could be a mix of both. Sherrie Traweek, a parent of two students at Tahoma High Schools says, “I think it’s a little bit of both… when kids lose interest they get behind and when they become seniors their motivation starts declining.” This is an interesting point because motivation is hard to find when you are not interested in a subject.  

To help students keep up, Tahoma High School has many procedures in place to get students the help that they need like power hour which is an hour at lunchtime where students can seek help from teachers. And also skyward which is a website where students can see their grades. These two procedures are in place to help push students towards success.

Señor Hipolito, a Spanish teacher at Tahoma believes Tahoma is “… using Skyward to hopefully put the parents in charge so that [parents]  can see that and access it, and give [students] a little kick in the butt to get going”. Further evidence that students have resources and tools at their disposal that could be very beneficial to their success in school.

Most teachers at Tahoma have more than 150 students, so they can’t spend all of their time on one student.”You know as teachers we can’t force you guys to study. We can show you the information, tell you how to succeed, but part of it goes to the parent and the student to get them kick-started.” Said Señor Hipolito.  

It seems that Tahoma is providing its students with the necessary tools to pass their classes. With that being said not every student is going to use the tools that are provided for them like power hour and Skyward. Even when a student is not coming in and asking for help on their own, their teachers can try to get them to come in with mandatory power hour slips.