Rasa Watson and Jeremiah Butler
Staff Writers
Junior Weston “Wes” Matthews along side his brother William “Trey” Matthews who is a Senior at SLA moved from Detroit and started here at SLA. Before SLA, Wes went to many different schools in Detroit. He describes some aspects of SLA that he enjoys and how the change from Detroit was significant for him.
“Being A Part Of The Culture”
Without applying to any other schools, Wes’s mother already had attendance at SLA up for him last year, and he visited later on in the spring.
“I actually really liked it. I think it’s a school I needed because I like to think,” Wes said. “I’m a free minded person, I like to think for myself and I like to be alone and think sometimes. So I think it’s a school for self expression and a school that promotes individuality.”
Back in Detroit, Wes “was deep into their poetry scene” and has been talking to English Teacher Matt Kay about joining The Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement, and already joined the Poetry elective class that Mr. Kay teaches during the school day. He has also been doing fall baseball tryouts and is looking forward to baseball in the spring.
In school back in Detroit, Weston was enrolled in Honors and AP classes. He didn’t expect to be on a path that wasn’t advanced placement — SLA doesn’t offer those kinds of courses — but he believes he’ll learn new things regardless.
Junior Zoey Tweh had good things to say about Wes adapting to his new environment.
“He’s in a different city. It’s one thing to just transfer schools, SLA is its own ball game. But you know he’s in a brand new city, he’s getting used to it, but I think it’s starting to grow on him,” she said.
What Others Say
Tweh had more praise for Wes.
“He’s definitely one of a kind,” she said. “He’s super creative and humble – and he’s a gentleman.”
Wes’ older brother Trey also had compliments.
“Wes is a type of person who will express his opinion. He expresses it through his poetry, his music, stuff like that. He’s a very emotional person, and you know you can hear it through his poetry, his music and sometimes in other ways.”
Wes had big goals for himself in his new environment.
“I just want to be a part of the culture here because I want to be the enlightenment.”
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