With these photos, I want to show the good side of Fremont. The Los Angeles Times described us as a terrible school. The newspaper reported that during class time people are walking around and teachers are giving their students baby work. I wanted to show that’s not true. We try to get an education every day. There are students coming after school for SAT classes and AP boot camp to prepare students for the Advanced Placement exams. Our new principal got rid of tardiness. More students are taking classes to pass the exit exam. Raising our test scores—that’s what we need to focus on.
This school is not on the same level as some other schools, but we try our best. We’re not the only school being audited by the state—we’re just one of 13 schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District where state administrators are trying to improve conditions.
My favorite thing about Fremont is the students. We get along. We’re determined and we don’t give up. One of my classmates, Mark Bradford, has gotten a scholarship to attend Stanford University. These photos show who we are.
The teachers also—they work one-on-one with us to make sure we understand. They inspire us to go further. For myself, I want to be a doctor—or a teacher at Fremont.
Leticia Lopez, 17, contributed to this photo essay.