Year of Living Precariously
Remember ninth grade? I've tried hard to forget that year of hormonal horror, but on Sunday, reporter Ron Matus and photographer Lara Cerri of the St. Petersburg Times brilliantly brought the memories back to life. Their "Ninth or Never" profiles four diverse ninth-graders at St. Pete's Northeast High School as they navigate the tumult of their home lives and the increasing demands of a year that some educators consider the toughest for students. They introduce us to Ronnie Jean (who already attends Alcoholics Anonymous), Marquetta Moore (who alternates between sweetness and rage), Alex Wert (an ace flute player and karate kicker) and John Klarides (who is torn between his girlfriend and his church friends who call her a "whore").
Matus uses sharp dialogue and dead-on descriptions to re-create classroom scenes such as this one:
In a Freshman Experience class, Mr. Lynch calls roll through the cuckoo din of 28 ninth-graders talking. In the back left corner, a lanky boy with garage-rock hair turns to the kid next to him.
"Guess what?" Ronnie Jean says. "CHICKEN BUTT!"
Ronnie grabs his T-shirt as if he's in cardiac arrest and topples to the floor.
Even under optimal conditions, teaching responsibility and good study habits to 14-year-olds is tough. But 3rd Period in Room 1-160A often resembles a fight scene from The Matrix.
By sharing the lives of these ninth-graders, Matus and Cerri give us insight into why so many kids drop out of ninth grade and how some survive.