Nelzy Time: Recent Episodes
Nelzy Gonzalez-Zaragoza
This is a rough cut of a 30 minute conversation with Nick Palmquist, a teacher at MetWest High School for the Oakland Unified School District. I want to declare that I am an alum from said High school, and former student of Palmquist. Although I attended MetWest, it has been four year since I last stepped in as a student. The school has changed drastically however, its core curriculum remains the same. In this interview, I ask Palmquist about the way he approaches the curriculum. Palmquist teaches 20 students and apart from being their teacher, his main role at MetWest, is being an advisor for those same students. This means that apart from being their humanities teacher, Palmquist is in charge of making sure each student is actually learning at their internship site.
The ten minute interview I selected has an emphasis on their internship program. Though we had a very insightful conversation on the restorative justice framework on the other half of this interview. Basically, students get to choose an internship (off a database Metwest has collected since its inception) or look for a new internship site, to intern at twice a week. They go to regular school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And on Tuesdays and Tuesdays, after their everyday humanities class, students make their way into their selected internships. I ask Palmquist if he thinks internships overshadow the day to day curriculum. He gives his opinion on the benefits of internships over generic education. Metwest uses the phrase “one student at a time” to highlight the importance of small classes. He touches on the “banking model of education” which can be a challenging environment for teachers. For Palmquist, supporting students on a personal level, and building relationships with students in and out of the classroom, is better than the common curriculum forced by school districts. On that note, Palmquist has direct contact with mentors (from the internships), students' parents or families. If needed, both Palmquist and the students' parents can reach out to each other anytime of the week. The same goes for mentors.
Another thing that makes MetWest stand out is their approach to social justice and restorative justice framework. Although Palmquist mentions this curriculum in our interview, I'll leave this space for Malik Edwards, the man in charge of the restorative justice curriculum at Metwest. Edwards, a former Black Panther Party member, gives the school insight into creating a safer environment. The teachers facilitate class circles when they deem necessary. Apart from this, the school hosts weekly town hall meetings on Fridays to showcase school news, city news, student projects and student opportunities in and out of campus.
With that, there are more specific details that make Metwest different. Students are encouraged to call their advisors by their first name. It is important for Palmquist to keep students on a friend basis. This helps students keep in touch with advisors. Further, he highlights the success rate in regards to learning at internships and graduating. Finally, we end this conversation with the popularity of Metwest within the Oakland community and the demand for Metwest to expand. For the last two school years, upon pressure from the school district, Metwest has begun its expansion by having a second campus. For the next four years, Metwest is supposed to expand by adding 40 extra students (two full class grades each year) until they reach 320 students. This scares some teachers including Palmquist.
I chose to interview my father (Juan). Although he does speak some english, I believe it would be hard for others to understand. Therefore, I decided to interview him in Spanish. I will add the transcriptions here:
Question: In what section of the house are we in and what do we usually do here?
Answer: We are in the kitchen and normally, after we eat, the family converses.
Question: Can you describe some sounds that we can hear from our location? In side and outside noises?
Answer: Yes- one of the sounds that we hear regularly is the song of the birds. Especially the bird that sits in the tree outside. And also in the inside we can hear Lana (dog) bark and the sounds of the cats playing.
Question: Earlier we could hear the helicopters. For you is it common to hear helicopters in the neighborhood?
Answer: Normally is not too common but recently there have been events very close that make the helicopters be in the zone. I believe it's disobedience from the people or from the protest. (Helicopters where in the area after protestors gathered on the avenue. On Saturday morning, CHP officers shot more than 40 rounds at a car killing Oakland resident, Erik Salgado and injuring his pregnant girlfriend).
Question: Are there any other sounds you can hear within the house premises?
Answer: Yes-regularly you can hear (outside of the house) regularly 2-3 time in less than 4-5 hours you can hear the firetruck pass or a cop car or an ambulance. Also the sound of tires burning (burning rubber or cars shrieking) from the cars passing too fast and make the house shake. Also from the inside the house regularly I can hear the washing machine and the refrigerator working.
Las sound bite is banter between me and my father.