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From academics and athletics to drugs and privilege, the opinions about DHS vary from Dreads and non-Dreads
WRITTEN BY HEIDI FUCHS AND HANNAH WILLFORD
“A cesspool of culture and grit.” This is what first comes to mind for Peter Hilliard, a sophomore, when asked “the first thing that comes to mind when you think of DHS.’’
In a recent Squall survey, nearly 50% of the 227 students believed that DHS is best known for its athletics. Sports are one of many ways DHS shows its culture and hard work, whether it be on the field, the court, or in a pool. Sophomore Marcus Keeler is among that statistic, as the first thing he thinks about is “[Dexter’s] basketball program.”
Slightly more than 33% of the students associated academics with DHS. Dexter ranks well in academic areas according to Niche.com. Of the 790 public schools in the state of Michigan, Dexter High School ranks No. 50. Based on Niche’s statistics, they rated DHS’s overall academic grade as an A. It also states that the average graduation rate per year is 95%.
Around 1 in 10 felt that DHS is best known for its extracurricular activities, which include clubs, music, and the performing arts. Extracurriculars can provide other outlets for DHS’s students to display their talent and dedication. Three students within the Dexter band program were recently awarded with the All-State Band Students title.
There were many students who selected the “other” option within the survey.
Senior Chloe Perry was one of those, believing DHS to be filled with “mostly rich, white privileged kids,” and that overshadowed everything else. Two people from the survey also stated that white privilege first came to their minds when they were asked the question.
According to Niche, DHS’s overall diversity grade is a C, which may be a factor in why some students feel this way.
Junior Bailey Krueger is another student who did not think of Dexter as being an “athletic” or “academic” school. “I feel like a lot of students here are judgmental,” she said.
In the survey noted above, four students said “substance usage” was the first thing that came to mind when thinking about DHS.
As for non-Dexter high school students, many believe that DHS is best known for its athletics.
“I don’t know a lot about the academics of the school, but the school seems very sports-oriented,” said Maura O’Connor, a sophomore from Community High School. “I have been to a few different sporting events for Dexter and it seems like they take their sports teams very seriously.”
O’Connor was not the only student who felt this way. Chelsea senior Lauren Lewis said that “football” was the first thing she thought about. Another student, Kierstin Norris from Grass lake, said, “the first thing that comes to mind is a lot of students with a lot of school spirit.” This opinion entails our pride for DHS in something such as athletics, and our students supporting them with our enthusiastic student section.
Norris and another student commented on the size of DHS itself.
“The school looks huge and I think I would get lost if I went there,” Norris said.
Even Anne Kollman, a junior at Pioneer High School who was recently inside DHS, was blown away by the size of the building.
“I was at Dexter … for the ACT and the main thing that came to mind was that [the school building] was huge and fancy,” Kollman said.
When DHS students aren’t studying for things like the ACT, they have a reputation for living it up during the night.
“Partiers, because Dexter has that reputation,” said Chelsea sophomore Kaitlin Kubicki when asked about DHS students.
Our high school’s reputation is based on who you talk to. There are some people that go to DHS and believe that we are known for negative things, while there are others who believe we are known for positive things. This is the same way for students that go to school outside of Dexter. Our high school’s reputation is based on the eye of the beholder. Our reputation is what you make it out to be, whether you attend DHS or not.
