Young Adolescent Cultural

Inquiry Project
West Wilkes Middle School
Raven Hensley
Olivia Warren
Emily Newburger
Rose Saunders
Rachel Stearns
Kimie Hinrichs

Wilkes County Demographics

Population: 68,838

Wilkes County Demographics

Wilkes County Demographics

Education

WWMS Demographics
4.3% African/Black
0.5% Asian/Pacific
Islander
82.9% Caucasian/White
11.2% Hispanic/Latino
7% Native American
2.7% Other
3.2% Prefer not to
answer

WWMS Demographics
46% Female
53.5% Male
0.5% Prefer not to
specify

Wilkes County Economy

Wilkes County Economy Info

North Carolina Economy

North Carolina Economy Info

Economy
What do your
parents/guardians do
for a living?

Religion Observation Overview

Students discuss religion openly in class

Many are involved in a church in the community that connect them to other
students.
Some students wear shirts, necklaces etc. with religious connotation
Students that are not religious seem to keep their views to themselves because of
the overwhelming Christian community that dominates the community and the
school.

Wilkes County Religious Demographics

Survey Question Results

Do you and/or your family believe in
and practice a particular religion? If so,
what is it?

73% Identified as Christian

17% Did not practice a religion
at home
1% Identified as Jewish
6% Preferred not to answer
3% Believed in God, did not
identify with a particular religion.
Of the students who identified as
Christian:
17% are Baptist
1% is Non Denominational
5% are Catholic
77% did not specify

Survey Question Results

If you or your family do practice a religion, do you consider it a
major influence in your life? 69% Responded with yes
16% Replied no
8% Responded sometimes
4% Were unsure
3% Preferred Not to answer

Politics
Wilkes County:

North Carolina:

As of April 6, 2016, of the

41, 896 registered voters:

As of April 6, 2016, of the

6,551,230 registered voters:

24.8% Democrats
51.3% Republicans
0.3% Libertarians
23.6% Unaffiliated

NC Voter Statistics Results

40.4% Democrats
30.5% Republicans
0.5% Libertarians
28.6% Unaffiliated

Survey Question Results

Do your parents/guardians discuss
politics with you? If so, do they favor a
particular set of believes?

57% Responded with no

24% Responded with yes
11% Responded with sometimes
5% Did not know
3% Preferred not to answer
Of the students who responded with
yes:
46% are Republican
7% are Democrat
5% have no affiliation
42% did not specify

Recreation and Leisure

187 students in 6th and 7th Grade were asked to take a survey
answering questions about what they do after school
Topics asked about:
-

Television
Video Games
Social Media
Extracurricular Activities
Me Time: Activities of their choice

Recreation and Leisure

- Structured Extracurricular Activities students are involved in
-

Dance
Church groups
Boy scouts
Girl scouts
Soccer
Basketball
Track and field
Hunting club/shooting team
Science Olympiad
Cheerleading
Baseball/softball
Music Lessons
YMCA

Volleyball
Wrestling
Golf
Band
Beta Club
Theater/Drama Club

Recreation and Leisure

- Non-Structured Activities that the students are involved in
-

Riding bikes
Riding dirt bikes/four-wheelers
Fishing
Hunting
Babysitting
Watching movies
Sleeping
Eating
Playing outside
Running
Hiking
Hanging out with friends
Exercising
Singing

Racing
Kayaking
Canoeing
Rock climbing
Weightlifting
Playing video games
Texting/Social Media
Drawing/Painting
Swimming

Recreation and Leisure - Structured Activities

- Structured Extracurricular
Activities

Recreation and Leisure - Non Structured Activities

Technology Use
Computer with Internet
Access: 75.4%
Smartphone: 75.9%
iPad/Tablet: 73.8%
TV with Cable: 74.3%
Gaming Device: 67.9%
Other: 11.8%

Social Media

Facebook: 58.3%
Twitter: 21.4%
Instagram: 62%
Snapchat: 65.8%
Tumblr: 10.7%
Reddit: 1.1%
Imgur: 0.5%
Other: 40.6%

Media Interests
Top 5 favorite genres of music:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Pop
Country
Rap
Rock
Christian

Media Interests
Top 5 favorite genres of
film:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Comedy
Action/Adventure
Horror/Thriller
Animated/Family
Romance/Drama

Media Interests
Top 5 favorite TV shows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The Walking Dead

SpongeBob
Sports Center
Pretty Little Liars
Liv and Maddie

Media Interests
Top 5 favorite celebrities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Adam Sandler
Stephen Curry
Taylor Swift
Luke Bryan
Justin Bieber

Technology in the Classroom

1:1, Netbooks

Smart Boards

Class blogs

Online quizzes and games

Relationships
Who are you the
closest to in your
life?

School Resources
Negative Effects of Finances on the Classroom
- Lack of paper
- Lack of materials such as graphing calculators and textbooks
- Hard to get class sets of workbooks and textbooks - usually only end up getting up
to 20 per teacher
Positive Effects of Finances on the Classroom
- Technology - smartboards, document cameras, computers, etc.
- 1 to 1 - netbooks for students - grant money was given for these

Implications on Classroom
Resources
- School receives its resources from
state government, federal
government, local taxes, various
grants
- Individual teachers cover for lack of
resources by shopping at
-

Staples - teacher rewards offered

Walmart - for low prices
Michaels - teacher discount given 15%

School Values
Core Values/Code of Conduct
- Follow the schoolwide C.O.D.E
-

C: Come Prepared
O: Operate Responsibly
D: Demonstrate Respect
E: Excel in Learning

- Under each of these sections are ways of achieving these values in each area of
school such as hallways, classrooms, restrooms, cafeteria, events,
arrivals/dismissals, and buses

School Climate
Climate
- Racial diversity is low, but the school is open to racial diversity and seeks to
include global education about different races, ethnicities, beliefs, etc. so that
students have a broad world view
- There is a broad spectrum of Socioeconomic diversity among students - these
differences are not highlighted but they are given fair opportunities to achieve
-

Homework - resources are taken into consideration

Home life is taken into consideration with absences and homework
Breakfast is served every morning to ALL students and lunch is FREE for everyone

- Gender differences dont seem to be addressed

School Programs
Programs that support Adolescent
Development
-

Intramurals
Exploratory
Sports teams
Block Scheduling
Teaming - certain groups of students
only see 4 teachers for core classes
- Grouping practices within the classroom

Language
From my classroom observations:
I have noticed that a majority of
the students have southern
accent or country swang
They pretty much say whatever
comes to their head.

Are you forreal?

FeliznaviDAB

Shut up!

You need some hair gel

Aint ya?

Those girls, WOW

DONALD TRUMP

Things just got weird when we started

talking about Donald Trump

BYE
(Student sings current popular rap song every day)

I reckon so

I never do my homework

My netbook is so freaking SLOW!

Sausage

(Student checks out) You are the luckiest

man alive

Woo Doogie

Who doesnt miss me, that's always the question

Can I be batman in high school?

Are those TERMITES?!?!

Fashion
Top five places that they shop for
clothes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Belk/Kohls
Wal-Mart
Underarmour/Nike
Rue 21
Hollister

Food Overview
From my observations:
All kids are given free breakfast
in the morning and free lunch
during their lunch period from
the school cafeteria
Teachers keep snacks in the
rooms for kids

Survey Question Results

How many days a week do you eat fast
food?

11% responded with 0 days

36% responded with 1 day
26% responded with 2 days
17% responded with 3 days
6% responded with 4 days
4% responded with 5 or more days

Survey Question Results

How many days a week do you eat a home
cooked meal?

11% responded with 2 or fewer days

15% responded with 3 days
19% responded with 4 days
19% responded with 5 days
15% responded with 6 days
21% responded with 7 days