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(Durham County)
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Northern Durham's principal Ike Thomas believes that one of the great advantages of public schools is that it's a place for young people, in some instances the only place, where they have an opportunity to interact with people who are different from them.
Northern journalism students are charged with writing about the real-life issues of teenagers in the school newspaper. To prepare for their assignment, they talk freely with Something in Common producer Donna Campbell about their own experiences-both social and academic.
Gay teens who come out to their peers, teachers and parents present the most controversial frontier in our school's efforts to teach respect and tolerance for difference. Something in Common captures the experiences of both a gay student and teacher dealing with the ever-present societal pressures of high school.
From the Program
Dr. Isaac Thomas
Principal
"One of the great advantages of public school is that it is a place and for some youngsters, the only place they get an opportunity to interact with people who are different from them. It means people with different socio-econoiomic levels to people with religious traditions from people who have perspectives..and it's a good opportunity to have some of that affective learning that is important in schools, but that we don't really have in an organized way."
Nancy Duffner
English teacher
"I think Northern provides a great social education. We may not have as many merit finalists or high priced neighborhoods, but kids sit in class with people who live in trailers to palatial homes, and I think they just see more of what it is to be a human being in a class like that."
"You give them the opportunity to feel safe in sharing themselves and they will."
[About a gay student] "She is brave, and think she's had to take on peer and parental hesitation, but she didn't flounder; she just kept going."
Kirsten Wescott
Photography teacher
"My heart just broke for her on one hand, but on the other hand, I wanted to do a cheer, because while the overall population of the school body might point and whisper, she went to the prom with her girlfriend. And that could never have happened in the 1970's."
[About her own experience as a student] "I was actually outed at this school in the tenth grade. I was fifteen years old, and I had three years of school left at Northern. I didn't know what it meant, but I knew I was in big trouble."
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