Deidre Green Hired as Assistant Principal
at Madison’s Capital High School

by Samuel Garduno, age 14

The Madison Metropolitan School District has appointed four new assistant principals at schools around the city. Among the four new assistant principals is Deidre Green, a former student and managing editor at Simpson Street Free Press. Green was recently hired at Capital High School.

In the sixth grade, Deidre Green began writing at Simpson Street. During her years at the Free Press, she worked her way up the ranks to become managing editor. As a student writer, Green recalled the most impactful experiences being the teaching she received from editors, especially Betty Kramer, a local volunteer.

“[Betty] would help me and spend time with me on grammar because I was really bad, I didn't know a lot of the grammar rules,” explained Green in an interview with current Simpson Street reporters. [read more]

Book Review: Let’s Talk About It: The Art, the Artists and the Racial Justice Movement on Madison's State Street

Reviewed by Yani Thoronka

Following the death of George Floyd and other killings of unarmed black people, artists in the Madison community came together to show their allegiance and solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement. Their allyship was demonstrated through a series of murals, which lined State Street. These murals were painted on long, wooden boards that covered the windows of shops and other buildings from the State Capitol to Library Mall.

But as stores slowly began to open for business, the murals were taken down. To help preserve this local artwork, the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact published a book. This new book is titled Let’s Talk About It , which is a collection of more than 100 works of art completed this past summer. The book is a coordinated effort by American Family in collaboration with local photographers, participating artists, and Black leaders to create something beautiful and inspiring despite the harsh reality of this grim subject.

Nyra Jordan, the social impact investment director at American Family Insurance, said she is honored to be “a part of telling the story of extraordinary people doing extraordinary things.” [read more]

More than Symbolic: Madison School
Named for Dr. Virginia Henderson

by Cristian Cruz, age 17

Nothing will honor the Henderson legacy more.

[read more]

Why I Love Learning at Simpson Street Free Press

by Sol Saray, age 8

Hello, I am Sol. I am a writer at the Simpson Street Free Press .

Let me tell you how I started at the Free Press. When I was about to enter first grade, my parents sent me to summer school at Frank Allis but I didn’t want to go. So, my brother Brandon took me to the Free Press and I started to work. I started when I was just five; now I’m eight. My first articles were book reviews about Dr. Seuss books.

Now I also love writing about animals -- mammals, reptiles, any kind of animal. I also like writing about space because it interests me a lot. [read more]

Local Students Interview Negassi Tesfamichael

by Cris Cruz, age 17, and Josepha Da Costa, age 15

Negassi Tesfamichael is a former education beat reporter at The Capital Times . We recently had a chance to catch up with Negassi, who is finishing his first year at the Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern University. In his tenure at The Cap Times , Negassi covered important topics like the SRO debate , a changing school board , and the challenges of keeping teachers in the classroom . As students interested in media, we asked Negassi about his interest in the field of journalism. We were also eager to learn about his experiences in law school so far. [read more]

My ACT Experience

by Amie Kabera, age 17

As a junior at La Follette High School, the majority of my school year was focused on preparing for the ACT college entrance exam. The ACT test plays a big role in determining college acceptance, in addition to GPA and other factors. As a student, it sometimes feels like it determines your entire future. Achieving a high score on the ACT greatly improves a student’s chance of being accepted to tougher universities or colleges. High scores can also mean scholarships and more financial aid. For me, scoring well on the ACT would allow me to branch out, leave Madison, thrive in my potential field, and to reach my ultimate goal of becoming a lawyer representing underserved people from diverse communities. [read more]

Amara Stovall Finds Success As a CEO of Tomorrow

by Amie Kabera, age 17

Amara Stovall is an eight-grade student at Wright Middle School and student writer at Simpson Street Free Press. Amara has launched a business intended to change the lives of survivors affected by police brutality. Her business dream is now a reality.

At the age of 13, Amara Stovall joined a High School program called CEOs of Tomorrow. The program helps students create businesses that solve social issues. She was able to be in the program with a little help from her grandmother.

“Since I was ten, my grandma always knew I wanted to have my own business,” she said. I asked Amara what made her want to become an entrepreneur at such an early age. [read more]

Restorative Justice Alternatives Will Keep Kids in the Classroom

by Kadjata Bah, age 14

The way that behavior is managed in schools can be crucial, especially in this time when “school-to-prison pipelines” are realities for many students. Schools are often quick to impose suspensions that leave students out of classrooms during school-day hours. This problem, however, does not impact all students equally. Across the country, Black students are three times as likely to be suspended than white students, according to findings of the Civil Rights Data Collection. Research shows that placing law enforcement officers in schools only adds to suspensions, expulsions, and even arrests. One way to challenge school-to-prison pipelines is to replace zero tolerance policies with Restorative Justice alternatives. [read more]

Students Can Succeed in Advanced Classes if Given the Chance

by Enjoyiana Nururdin

Standardized tests are typically used to identify students intelligent enough for advanced learning opportunities. This is a problem. Standardized tests are not the most accurate tool for measuring student intelligence.

Countless factors contribute to the ability to perform well on tests. We do know that students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including Black, Hispanic, and low-income students often don’t score well on these tests in comparison to their White, higher-class peers. As a result, these students miss out on advanced learning opportunities. Previous efforts made to diversify advanced programs at the high school level have proven unsuccessful, so universities are changing the way they look at admissions. In an attempt to grant more students opportunities to excel in advanced programs, some prestigious schools are abolishing the use of standardized test scores as a necessary component of admissions.

Standardized tests should not be used as the only benchmark to compare students. The reason: not all students are given the same resources. Most high schools already deal with the inequities of socio-economic status, education, and opportunity. These inequities mean some students excel while others fall behind. Sometimes location has a lot to do with the “pre-determined success” of a student. For example, Wisconsin is ranked as one of the worst states for African-American (Black) achievement. These factors can make it harder for a Black student in Wisconsin to excel as opposed to a Black student from New York City. There is a gap in the amount of funding and resources available and some students get more attention than others. This is an example of how inequalities can shape a student’s experience in school. High-achieving students are often those who get more resources. [read more]

Learning to Be a Journalist at
Simpson Street Free Press

by Abigail Comerford, age 14

I remember the first time I entered the Capital Newspapers building next to my school. I remember seeing professional journalists at work and thinking about how I could be like them one day. At James Wright Free Press I received constructive criticism on my articles from editors and volunteers. This was hard to take at first. My ambition was to be a writer and, at the time, I thought I was fairly good at it. However, with time and effort, I was producing one or more articles every month, and this summer I produced even more.

I will admit, it did take some time to get used to not being able to choose what write about. Free Press editors usually pick assignments for our newer student reporters. They want us to write about things we study at school. But as I gained experience, the editors gave me the freedom to choose my own topics. [read more]