Customer Reviews

Another Planet: A Year in the Life of a Suburban High School

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

At first, Another Planet seems to be a polemic against the current state of American suburban high schools. Yet despite giving too much credence to student whiners and rebels most of what Elinor Burkett has written is painfully true. Though the book lacks the voice of so many students who are quietly doing well, one can't ignore the signs that our schools have lost their way. High school education flounders as an entrenched bureaucracy fights an endless battle against students whose interests are more for personal freedom than learning. Ms. Burkett shows us on all levels how our "me first" society has permeated to the core of our schools. As a teacher in a nearby suburban high school, I can oly attest to the veracity of her book and hope its revelations lead to positive debate.

I went to Prior Lake High School and knew all of the people she wrote about, I actually refused to sign one of her consent forms allowing her to use my name in the book (she mentioned it once anyway). Roger Murphy, Jayne Garrison, and Randy Henke were my best friends. But, contrary to what she wrote, Roger was NOT the only black student, just the only one of his friends who was black. To be honest, it wasn't a big deal, to him or anyone else. Ellie came to Prior Lake seeking out a handful of personality types to write about, as far as the students were concerned. She sought out the "alternative" kids and the "popular" kids, and completely ignored the middle ground where most of Prior Lake is, the silent majority in her book. Also, Prior Lake is NOT a typical high school. Prior Lake is an affluent community due to the lake and the casino nearby, making the school a powderkeg for dysfunction. Also, the town boasts more bars and liquor stores than gas stations. When I was in school, Prior Lake had the highest per capita arrests for underage consumption in Minnesota or Wisconsin. The kids she chose to fill her stereotypes were misrepresented most of the time, and what remained was complete fiction. Some of it, yes, is true, but written about in such a light as to be taken the wrong way. On another hand, kids put on a show for her, some of the people she wrote about all but reinvented themselves for her. Nick, the "young James Dean" as she put it, was never like that at all until she came along, he was a quiet, studius, well-behaved kid with slightly above average intelligence. The only saving grace of the book was the parts about the plight of the teachers.
For all its negativity, Prior Lake does have some amazing teachers. Ron Lachelt is really referred to as "god" by some of the students and not without reason. He is a truly brilliant man and an excellent teacher, someone who commanded respect from everyone. I was Mara Corey's teacher aide for a trimester and her student for two, she was and is my favorite teacher ever. Joe Gorake was not so disliked as Ellie tried to make out, Gorake commanded his own kind of respect, and the students that didn't like him only did so because he tried to make them apply themselves. But, again, the book came too little, too late. Ms Corey did not come back for the 2001 year, and the year before Ellie came on her "crusade" another great teacher was forced into retirement. The book says nothing about Gale Mord, but if she had truly paid attention to the students, it would have. If you read this book, please take her student representations with a grain of salt (in most cases, more than a grain).

I think this is a WONDERFUL book! I am a parent of a student in the class of 2000 in Prior Lake. Yes, it does use real names and real situations, and many of our staff members are not portrayed the way I, personally, would want to be portrayed if I were an educator, but I believe it also shows the real care, concern and dedication that some of our teachers have on a daily basis. Ms. Burkett shows the frustration of many of our students by an administration that uses control and intimadation to "control" our children. These are young people who are suppose to "obey' their teachers until graduation day in June, when they are suddenly suppose to think for themselves as adults. Maybe some of the anger in schools would lesson if we start treating students with the same respect that administrators expect. Ms. Burkett and her husband were a welcome addition to our community and I think it is a shame that she is getting bashed by the same administration who invited her into our school because she told the truth.

I was also a senior when Elli Burkett came to our school. I was interviewed, but not used in this book. However, I would like to express my opinion that this book is very honest. The book is accurate on how I remember highschool. I was one of the students in Ms. Corey's College Prep Comp classes and I was there through all the events. I was also in Mr. Carr's classes. She skillfully and honestly represents events of that time and place and I truly enjoyed the book. It is very well written.

When I finished Burkett's book, I said to my husband "Is there anyone out there who still disputes this is what high school is like"? Judging from the letters to the editor of the Prior Lake local newspaper, which inspired me to buy this book, there is. I'm 37 years old and the high school year Burkett describes could have been any one of my own, my 8 years younger husband's or my 20 year old nephew's. Burkett spoke with real people, and let her description of their actions color our judgments of those people. Any factual errors disputed by the Prior Lakers are irrelevant to the reader with no personal knowledge of the events.Prior Lake is no different than hundreds of other schools across America. Burkett has all the contradictory rules, regulations and expectations perfectly laid out for anyone to see the insanity which we've created. I have to wonder if the typos, spelling and grammatical errors of some of the previous reviewers aren't a reflection of their education in America.It's a solid book, well worth reading.

As a senior of Prior Lake High School, I sat in on a lot of the interviews conducted by Eli Burkett. I was one of the "loser" crowd, as was my husband, and was mentioned in the book. I think she did a pretty good job of portraying the high school the way it really was, despite the indescrepansies littered throughout. One thing I did not like: she took the students on their word alone and failed to check out the facts...she also mentioned things that did not need to be said about certain students. What really got to me was the way she belittled my struggles. Instead of writing about a teenage pregnancy that was ending in a good way, she belittled it by spending more time writing about the students who had abortions. However, this was her book, and I am not one to tell her how to write it. Let me just say that doing the "responsible" thing and getting married was so so so much harder than she made it out to be. Oh, and Roger isn't the "poor repressed black student" she makes him out to be...he is one of my closest friends, and an angel, but...like I said before, this is her view. On the other hand, she really puts into light such programs as "zero-tolerance" and other school policies and their idiosyncrasies. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who goes to high school, has children in high school, and secondary education teachers.

As a product of a suburban school, the deja vu factor kept kicking in on every page I read. As an education student planning to be a teacher, the book had me smiling and frowning after every other sentence. Burkett certainly holds no punches and I admit that the truth is not a pleasant pill to swallow. What Burkett does do too much of is placate the irresponsible teenager. A few years ago, I was in the same "social geograhpical" world of Roger, Reilly, and Marissa. Soon, I will be a Carr and a Corey, and I hope to end up a Lachelt. There is no excuse for disrespect, no matter how many things can take the blame for not raising proper youth. My caution to readers, though, is that not all teachers are bad and unproductive as Burkett may make them out to be. Such sentences as "The instant [the students] set foot on school grounds, however, they were catapulted back into childhood" seemed to make the author anti-school and pro-let-the-kids-do-whatever they want. Perhaps that is my bias as an educator coming through, but there are few descriptions of teachers being positive role models, which there are a good many of in American public schools. Griping aside, the book is well-written and entertaining as well. I feel like I know the staff and students of Prior Lake High School and that, in and of itself, brings all of the academic woes and social wrongs more strikingly real and alive.

The most impressive thing about ANOTHER PLANET is Prior Lake High School's willingness to air its dirty laundry. I was a teacher for twenty years, and, believe me, there are very few administrators like Dr. Olson.
The set-up is this: Journalist Elinor Burkett was to be given almost unlimited access to students, teachers, administrators and parents for an entire year. She was looking for a suburban school about the size of Columbine and Prior Lake fit the bill.
I have to say that I enjoyed the book, especially the kids. Burkett includes a "Cast of Characters" within the first few pages. The inside covers are also used as a photo gallery. I kept paging back to find whomever she was talking about at a given time. Another remarkable fact: she used real names, had everybody sign a release before she'd talk to them.
Many of the kids fit specific "types" we've all met when we were in high school: Tony Lorenz, the cocky co-captain of the football team; Ashlee Altenbach, the pot-smoking ADHD student; Marissa Clausen, Goth princess; and my favorite, Reilly Liebhard, school genius.
The teachers are "types" are well: There's Joe Goracke, from "the old school"; Lori Boynton, assistant principal and resident hardass, and Mary Haugen, director of activities and athletics, who insists on calling sports co-curricular activities. The most compelling are the newbies, Mike Carr, first-year social studies and Mara Corey, first-year English. Burkett follows them around unrelentingly, exposing their every foible. Corey loses her job, mainly because she runs afoul of the less-liberal element in her department.
Lots of issues are analyzed here.The cluelessness of the faculty for one thing. They think the dates written on the bathroom walls signify another Columbine-like event, when in really they advertize a national pot-smoking day. Even the NHS students show up for it, as does Burkett. She also hits the "self esteem" fad hard. Teachers are not allowed to say anything negative about students, lest they damage their fragile egos. Burkett blames this for the mind set that led to Columbine.
I have to say that when I first read the book I thought Burkett had an ax to grind (She does admit at one point that high school was not a good time for her), but I must admit she got most of it right. There's the popularity contest going on, among the teachers, there's the petty bickering and back stabbing in the lounge, there's the problem with discipline (everyone else has one, but not me) and there're the sweet, lovely parents who won't stand up for the teachers. Bring on the computer classrooms!

I have to admit, I'm pretty amused. The reactions to this book are exactly what they predicted they'd be. In general, suburban schools tend to escape critical examinations by any sort of media because, on paper, they look great compared to their more poverty-stricken counterparts--especially when compared to one-size-fits-all state standards. When someone does come in and examine the issues inner city schools get nailed on all the time, many suburban faculty members and kids flip out because they're so accustomed to receiving nothing but praise for their above-average graduation rates, test scores, etc. They shrink from truly critical examinations that take into account the fact that they could be doing better than they are because they start out with more advantages than other schools. Often, this criticism takes the form of accusing the author of only interviewing the "non-mainstream" kids. Yet what the students don't realize is that even some of the most "mainstream"-seeming kids have hidden problems and concerns that no one knows about, problems that only come out under extensive questioning. Also, everyone has a different definition of the "mainstream." I think this book does an excellent job of reflecting the not-always pleasant and positive world of a real suburban high school-warts and all. In a school of hundreds, there are literally hundreds of conflicting viewpoints. To expect these viewpoints to be uniformly "positive" is unrealistic, especially since teenagers, in general, tend to be highly critical of life, in general!

Ms. Burkett has written a very engaging narrative about today's suburban schools. Not only is it easy to read and hard to set down, it's right on. I recently left a career of teaching, and I can vouch for many of the things that she describes. She goes out of her way to portray the faculty and students of the school accurately -- from the teachers who give the job everything they have, to the students who could care less, and everybody in between. This book is a must-read for anybody who is considering joining the teaching profession -- it will help them realize what they're getting into, as well as help them realize just how wonderful the job can be at times.