Joe Mestnik On Prior Lake High School

During fifth hour one of the social studies teachers, Joe Mestnik, supervises the first-floor computer lab. He makes ample use of the time by socializing with the students coming in and out and discussing the material covered in class with any of his students who might be in the lab at that time. I was able to talk to him and hear his thoughts about school.

"I really like this school. The student body is good, the faculty is good, and the facility is great. I'm pretty sure we're one of the few schools in the region that still has an actual shop class. The art department is outstanding. And the concert hall here is great."
"Prior Lake has a lot of options for the students with the electives we offer."
He points out the above-average test scores the school has, as well as the lack of fights and violence in the school, which has well over 2000 students enrolled.
A problem he has with the school is the student-teacher ratio.
"I think school spirit is great, but when you have so many people in the same school they lose that sense of unity. Everyone kind of breaks off into their own group and does their own thing."
"Teachers need to establish a connection with their students. But how are you supposed to do that with 160 kids going through your classroom a day? It can take half the trimester to just know your kids by name. It's not like in elementary school where you have thirty kids and you're with them for the whole 8 hours. In high school you've got 5 times the students and an eighth of the time with them."

As far as the public education system in the broad sense, Mestnik is in support of it.
"Public education gives everyone a shot at success in their life, even kids living in poorer areas. If you privatize the industry, then all of a sudden those kids don't have a chance."
"Privatizing education would be counter-intuitive in terms of America's republic. You need to have an educated population for it to work. And if you only have 60% of your population being educated then they can't make good decisions with voting.
"You need to have standards all across the board, so to speak. History teachers need to cover the same history, math teachers need to cover the same math, and so on."
"Some kids need structure in their lives and it's good that we give it to them. You know, some kids, given free time, will just sit around and watch TV all day."