Names of honor roll students in the newspaper-what do you think?

[froglady]

Why is it OK to tell a student that they aren't big enough, or strong enough, or fast enough, or pretty enough, or talented enough, or just plain not good enough, to be chosen for something, but it's not OK to tell him he's not smart enough or hasn't worked hard enough?

 

[Breezy_Carol]

I am not crazy about having one valedictorian. So many kids get so close. They can be .01 apart in GPA. This may be the difference in how one teacher grades over another. Kids will take a class they don't want because it is weighted more and skip something they really would like to take just to get that extra point. I know some kids who take summer school to get extra grades. It is too stressful. I think that over a certain GPA should be recognized. (Btw, my senior DS is currently #1 in his high school.)

 

[Disney Doll]

I am not crazy about having one valedictorian. So many kids get so close. They can be .01 apart in GPA. This may be the difference in how one teacher grades over another. Kids will take a class they don't want because it is weighted more and skip something they really would like to take just to get that extra point. I know some kids who take summer school to get extra grades. It is too stressful. I think that over a certain GPA should be recognized. (Btw, my senior DS is currently #1 in his high school.)

As my father told me when I was .01 outside of what was required to be in my HS's Top 10 "life isn't always going to be fair so get used to it".

And I did. And I made sure in college that I worked hard enough to get myself well inside the parameters for honors, so there could be no question that I deserved to be there.

 

[mousey]

The articles I recently read said that the reason they want to do away with valedictorian and salutatorian is because you have highschools that graduate 50 students and others that have 400. It's a lot harder competing against 399 vs. 49 or less! I don't think these high achievers get enough recognition! They deserve there names in the local papers and the school should also acknowledge there hard work! Our school currently has a special parking lot for seniors. This year, fewer seniors applied for a parking permit then in past years. There are 25 open spots and parking is at a premium anywhere near the school. This would be a perfect time to offer the remaining spots to hard working juniors who need a place to park! Even if they did it by lottery--it would be a reward. I also agree with the poster concerning the way certain teachers grade. What one teacher considers a 99 her co worker gives a 95. Big difference when a tenth of a point counts!

 

[Marseeya]

Regarding the valedictorians, when I graduated in 1985 our valedictorian was a real controversy. The girl who got it had actually graduated a year early. She didn't have any extracurricular activities and had taken all "B" level classes (non-college). We actually did have kids who were above her, but several boys from our "top 10" got caught doing something wrong and were kicked out of their spots.

So, do you think it's right for a "B" level student to get valedictorian over students who might be a few points lower in the "C" (college) level courses?

Oh, and another thing that the school did several years later that was really ridiculous. They broke all the courses down even farther than "B" and "C" levels and came up with different "schools." Science, business, arts, etc. I can't remember all the schools. It turned out at graduation, there were 16 valedictorians! The school was such a laughingstock. They did this for quite a few years, but I'm not sure how they're doing it now.

 

[froglady]

I understand people feel that some Valedictorians don't "deserve" the honor because they took lower level classes. BUT, that's a choice that the students who wish to be challenged make; they know they could take an easier route.

DD (and DS) attend(ed) a prep school...EVERYONE in the school was college material, or else they wouldn't have been able to get in, or stay in. She knew that it would be a struggle to make it into the top 20% of her class, never mind the top. However, the level of education she would receive was worth it to her to stay, even if she wasn't a "star."

We always told her that if she REALLY wanted to be Valedictorian, she could transfer to the HS down the street, where she would have a better chance.

 

[mum4jenn]

Our weekly small town newspaper prints all kinds of pictures each week. Our schools have Model Student,student of the week/month, honor roll, principals scholar,superintendant's scholar,and all sorts of things. The students have their group photos and names mentioned. I think it's great and I know a year or so ago there was a big "to do" about the underacheiving kids not getting recognized that was on the Today show I think and it trickled down a bit here. It did not go very far here because the Principals (thank goodness) truly believe that the kids that work hard to get those grades deserve the recognition.

 

[luvflorida]

I agree that every student who makes honor roll deserves the recognition that comes with it, but I also believe that honor rolls showcase the kids who are the hardest working kids, not necessarily the smartest ones. And, again, these kids deserve to be recognized.

I have mixed feelings about Valedictorians and Salutatorians. Many high schools do not take into consideration the level of classes a student takes when factoring in grade point averages and class ranking. Many times, I think a student must decide between truly challenging themselves with Honors classes and AP classes and not getting a high enough grade point average to make one of the top two slots, or deciding to take lower level courses that will easily assure them of a higher grade point average.

It would be nice if the Valedictorians and Salutatorians were always the brightest and hardest working students, but this isn't always the case.

Again, a lot depends on the individual student. I have three kids. My oldest son was, (still is!), very bright and could easily have made high honors, but he only ocassionally made the regular honor roll. He just didn't care and wasn't motivated enough, and nothing we said made any difference to him.

My oldest daughter graduated high school 5th in her class, out of approximately 800 students. She is also very bright, but also extremely motivated. She was disappointed with her ranking of 5th, and knew that she could have placed better if the school had weighted grades. There were several students, (and she knew this because the kids laughed about it and thought it was funny), that purposely dropped higher level classes and took lower level ones. These kids earned higher grade point averages and ended up taking the second and third ranking slots. Were they smart kids? Yes. Were they deserving of the class ranking they got? In my opinion, no.

My youngest daughter is a Sophomore and consistently makes the high honor/honor roll. She is as bright as her older siblings, but not quite as motivated as her older sister. I think she makes the honor roll more because she knows we expect it of her, and less because she cares about making it.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but I guess I just wanted to say that things aren't always as they seem.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yup, our town does it.

 

[mtblujeans]

Our paper does it, too, and DH cuts the kids' names out and they put them in their 'special papers' of school memorabilia. We may be parents that are a 'little too proud' of our kids....

 

[Alice's Mom]

A lot of people have mentioned that some students take AP classes while others take an easier class to improve their class ranking...when I was in High School (over 10 years ago) AP grades were weighted with an extra point as in a regular English class A grade was worth 4 points on the GPA scale, whereas an AP English class A grade was worth 5 points on the GPA scale.

Has this been done away with?? Sure helped my GPA, I was an honor student and I worked hard at it, but my name was in the paper for Tennis, not my grades.

My highschool gave Valedictorian status to anyone with a 4.0 or higher and special recognition to the person who had the highest GPA overall. I believe there were about 40 Valedictorians in a class of 300.

I would love to see my daughters name in the paper for honor roll, she would be tickled pink too, she loves seeing her name in print.

 

[Puffy2]

I don't care one way or another.

 

[kpm76]

I think it's a great way to recognize high academic achievement. We're getting too wrapped up in the "feel good" method of educating (i.e not telling a child they are wrong or their answer is incorrect for fear of hurting their feelings). By doing so we are not preparing them for the world outside the classroom. When I was in high school, honors classes were weighted differenty than regular classes so essentially you could only be at the top of the class if you took the most challenging classes. Also, it's important to note that colleges and university admissions offices know how challenging/competitive high schools are and that plays a role in admissions decisions. Two valedictorians are two different schools are not necessarily equal. Bottom line, I whole-heartedly support recognizing kids for their hard academic work

 

[lbgraves]

We only received an extra .17 added to our point total if we took an AP class. Big deal! Either way, I challenged myself, worked thru school & ended up with a 3.27 and a full scholarship my first year of college and the ability to do very well in college because I was prepared. I earned my BA in three years going year round and working 40 hours a week waiting tables.

My sister, on the other hand, graduated from HS with the gold cords & tassle of an honor graduate. What kind of diploma did she have? A vocational because it was easier. She did photography & was on the main choral group...so she could sing & knew her color wheel. She took a 2 year algebra class to fulfill her math requirement and had to break down after failing her final Senior year to graduate. Testing for the community college she found that she had to take & pay for three math classes before any of her math credits would start counting towards her diploma there.

I do not put much worth in titles. IMO what matters is what you gain from your education and what you do with it.

 

[golfgal]

AP classes at our high school are graded on a 5.0 scale, non-AP are graded on a 4.0 so that helps weight the classes as far as how valedictorian etc. is figured out.

I love that they put the honor rolls in the paper. It gives kids something to work toward. I have to admit that I "used" the honor roll to quiet one of "those" moms that was CONSTENTLY bragging about how wonderful her children are and what top notch students they are, blah, blah, blah. I knew differently. The honor roll came out and low and behold neither of her kids made either the A or B honor roll. That pretty much took care of her bragging.

 

[mickeyfan2]

When I was growing up our town did this. I was always listed. It is more for the parents than the student. I'm fine with the practice.

 

[horseshowmom]

This has always been a "thorn" for me. I have a DD who always gets high academic rewards. One year a certain mother actually said to me - " I don't think they should give academic awards out or publish them in the newspaper." I asked her why and she said that it made the other children feel bad (Hers included).

I listened to her, but at the end, told her that I felt this was an achievement that should be recognized. My DD was not "gifted" and had to give up many social functions to get the grades she gets. I was proud of her achievements, just like the other mom was proud of her daughter whenever she got mentioned for a track and field contribution.

Then she said that children are born with the talent to excel academically and it is not fair for those who are not born with "smarts". I reminded her that her DD was born with the ability to run fast, i.e. the track awards and she told me it was not the same thing.

Let's just leave it to say that we have not talked since.

I agree completely.

 

[ead79]

I very much support the idea of putting honor roll students’ names in the local paper. I don’t believe they do that here (too many students, it would take up half the paper, LOL), but I support the idea. As other posters mentioned, students who excel athletically are often mentioned, and I think that it only makes sense to recognize academic achievement as well.

As far as the class ranking discussion goes, my high school operated the same way as a few other posters mentioned. If you took a regular level class, you received 4.0 points for an A, 3.0 points for a B, and so forth. If you took an honors level class, you received 4.5 points for an A. If you took an AP level course, you received 5.0 points for an A. This made the notion of valedictorian much more fair, since a student with a 4.0 would not receive this honor (meaning that someone who took solely regular level classes would not receive valedictorian over a student who took the most challenging courses available). I believe our valedictorian graduated with around a 4.2 or 4.3 GPA since he took exclusively honors and AP courses whenever they were offered. I would have to estimate that a student with a 4.0 even would have been ranked around 75 out of 450 in the class rankings.

Aside from the class ranking aspect, colleges would much rather see a student who took challenging courses and made a B than a student who took all regular classes (assuming they were capable of more) and made A’s. Competitive colleges also know which high schools are more challenging than others. For example, a competitive college might let 5 students in from a top performing high school, but only let the top 2 in from a less competitive high school.

 

[mickeysgal]

Aside from the class ranking aspect, colleges would much rather see a student who took challenging courses and made a B than a student who took all regular classes (assuming they were capable of more) and made A’s. Competitive colleges also know which high schools are more challenging than others. For example, a competitive college might let 5 students in from a top performing high school, but only let the top 2 in from a less competitive high school.

This is an interesting point. How do you know if your H.S. is considered a top-performing high school in relation to other high schools either across your state or in your area of the country?

 

[goofy!]

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