[samsamsam]

Can't wait for someone to blame Obama for this.

http://www.kgw.com/story/news/2015/06/02.../28387707/

Quote:

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- Forest Grove High School will graduate 20 valedictorians on Saturday, June 6.

You read that right. Twenty.

School counselor Duane Anderson said each freshman is given the same challenge when they start at Forest Grove. Get As in all your normal classes and take four AP classes and you will be called Valedictorian. There is no limit on how many students qualify.

Last year the school had 29.

"They know what the criteria is and they shoot for that. It's an obtainable thing but still pretty lofty," said Anderson.

The students have different reasons for spending all four years chasing the goal.

Jordan Panganiban is a Valedictorian and Student Body President.

"It's just been something that's always been a goal of mine," he said. "Something to strive for and achieve and I'm glad I did it, " said Panganiban.

Brian Flores-Torres said he wanted to complete the challenge for his parents.

"My parents never had the chance to graduate from high school. And I thought I would learn from that and make them proud by getting something they didn't have while leaving a legacy through out the Forest Grove community," he said.

School leaders invited all 20 Valedictorians to audition to give the big speech at graduation. Only three signed up so the school decided each could give a speech.

[jariel]

[General Stalin]

Set the bar low enough and no one will be disappointed.

[philosophical_recovery]

[kosko]

A school in the Toronto area does something similar. I guess the Province has some "achievers list" that high ranking HS grads get onto. This school has a record amount each year and has all thier faces on a big damn wall, the irony is that that school gets a ton of rejections from good Universities that don't think the students are worthy of entry into many good programs.

My program hasn't took a kid from that school in 9 years because all have been sub-par even though the all are in the top 10% of Ontario HS graduates.

It's all just more "everybody gets a ribbon" junk. Conformity and mediocrity is the new normal.

[LeeEnfield303]

I'm sure all those elite colleges and prospective employers are impressed as hell about an applicant being 1 of 20.


Because, Oregon.

[eljeffster]

Multiple valedictorians are ok as long as they achieved the same top GPA (2 or three who get 4.0s) I like the requirement to take AP classes. Some chick from my high school class got a 4.0 but she didn't take the harder science or math classes- only AP English.

This school didn't do it right. Get all A's and take 4 AP classes for some kind of special recognition would have been better.

[kaotic]

^^^Exactly, they haven't heard of the principals list ? or some other group name ?

You know this happened because some parent (read: mother) bitched about her child "working hard" and not getting recognition.

[2Wycked]

(06-04-2015 02:44 PM)General Stalin Wrote:  

Set the bar low enough and everyone will be disappointed.

Fixed.

There is no greater disservice any group of parents or elders can do for children is to prevent them from growing up. Learning to lose, learning to come in second or last place --- and learning to bounce back and grow from that -- is one of the most important and crucial lessons a person can learn in order to have a happy and full life. These sorts of lessons should be learned in youth, when the stakes seem monumental to children, but in reality are small and tawdry compared to what happens later in life.

When well-meaning but stupid school administers do things like this, not only do the children -- soon to be adults -- know it's fake and not real, they still want it and bask in the fake glow of success. Instead of learning to deal with disappointment after investing lots of hard work, these students will learn what it means to get an "A" when every other asshole who bothered to show up and put in minimal effort gets an "A."

At the risk of a long post, I'll end with a poignant but short and relevant clip from the beginning of Primary Colors.

Start at 2:29, can't get the damn thing to embed at that exact point: https://youtu.be/quXNZib3H0s?t=2m29s

When schools make no true demands of their students and refuse to help them learn to deal with the inevitable setbacks and disappointments in life, all we get are unhappy adults who know its all a sham, but don't know what else to do.

[Fortis]

Hmmm, seems legit. Totally legit.

[BortimusPrime]

Grades are meant to measure the student's ability to follow directions and submit to authority figures. If you didn't have at least one teacher you disliked and resisted in high school who graded you lower in retaliation, then you're a submissive follower. This applies to every level of education including college, and it's especially pronounced in elementary school where they grade on things like "citizenship". Seriously, what the hell does "citizenship" have to do with an 8 year old standing in line at the request of some glorified babysitter?

[seneca]

This is quite common in today's everyone's-a-snowflake era. I graduated in 2008 from a decent-sized public high school in central IL, and of our 450 or so graduating seniors, I think we had 14 valedictorians, most of whom were female. Grades were not weighted, and so many of our school's 'finest and brightest' could claim valedictorian status; this, without ever having stepped foot into a more challenging class like AP Calc or Physics. Most of those who graced the stage that day are now elementary and high-school teachers. Almost all of them, in fact.

[robreke]

Socialism / Liberalism definition: Spread the misery equally so no one feels inferior or gets their feelings hurt. i.e.....spread the mediocrity equally.

The rationale behind this insanity goes thusly: " it's not fair that some should excel while others don't. It's not fair that someone is born more intelligent than someone else. It's not fair that someone is born more athletic and stronger and faster than someone else. It's not fair, so through legislation and government fiat, we shall make it fair."

Typical liberal solution: When they are appalled at the way the real world and natural human nature actually are , ie. reality, they try to change it through forceful man made measures.

The result of this? No one is allowed to excel and we come back to my original statement: "Spread the misery equally so no one feels inferior."

[Easy_C]

Thing is, everyone gets all A's then everyone has a 4.0


If you have that many Valedictorians then you've got some rampant grade inflation going on. It's not supposed to be easy to walk out with a 4.0 but everyone does these days....in spite of being obvious raging idiots.

[Goldin Boy]

(06-04-2015 02:44 PM)General Stalin Wrote:  

Set the bar low enough and no one will be disappointed.

Not exactly...

Quick google search reveals the school has 1920 students...if a fourth are Seniors they have approx 480 (500 a grade isn't uncommon) meaning only 6% actually met the goal.

Most students take 6-7 classes per semester. So getting 24 to 28 A's over four years is no easy task (subjective grading, some teachers count attendence/tardiness, participation is weighted differently, etc). I had a religion teacher in high school that would deducted points from your class GPA if she heard you got detention/suspended...her reasoning? Religion is a way of life, not just a class you take


The AP stipulation needs revising: I should be gets straight A's in multiple AP classes. (Getting straight A's in regular classes almost guarantees you'll get into any AP class if you ask).

[LeeEnfield303]

(06-04-2015 05:14 PM)robreke Wrote:  

The rationale behind this insanity goes thusly: " it's not fair that some should excel while others don't. It's not fair that someone is born more intelligent than someone else. It's not fair that someone is born more athletic and stronger and faster than someone else. It's not fair, so through legislation and government fiat, we shall make it fair."

ever read "Harrison Bergeron?"

[Captainstabbin]

Straight As in the same curriculum, then look to grades in AP classes, then look to ACT/SAT scores. If everyone had the same curriculum (no light schedule) and the same AP classes and the same ACT/SAT scores, then I'm fine with multiple valedictorians. Something tells me there would be wild fluctuations on non-school administered tests like the ACT or SAT.

[robreke]

(06-04-2015 06:45 PM)LeeEnfield303 Wrote:  

(06-04-2015 05:14 PM)robreke Wrote:  

The rationale behind this insanity goes thusly: " it's not fair that some should excel while others don't. It's not fair that someone is born more intelligent than someone else. It's not fair that someone is born more athletic and stronger and faster than someone else. It's not fair, so through legislation and government fiat, we shall make it fair."

ever read "Harrison Bergeron?"

No, but I read the premise. It's interesting how certain themes in many books like this written long ago and Orwell's 1984 are manifesting in society now. Of course, the society isn't as totalitarian as 1984, but there are certain themes like "thought criminals" etc.

While we can still think what we want for the time being, it's kind of tough to say things that the mainstream liberal culture doesn't agree with without being labeled as a misogynist or racist ( when someone says I don't agree with President Obama's policies) or some other disparaging name.

As you point out, themes of Bergeron are manifest in this "everyone should be equal" type of educational system we have these days.

[ThrustMaster]

Its all about feelz. I explain to my offspring that if everyone gets a trophy it isn't special. I've engrained it in their brains, hopefully they will grow up knowing that in order for there to be winners there must be losers.