High School Awards Ceremonies-Yea or Nay?

Parents Forum
41

<p>My son's high school (private, college prep with roughly 300 in senior class) takes a very different approach.</p>

<p>It has a "Senior Awards Assembly" during the day about three weeks before graduation and the entire school attends. (Parents of students who are receiving an award are notified ahead of time and are also invited to attend.) It lasts about 2 hours. Only a limited number of senior awards are given out then: one "Academic Excellence" award for each department (math, science, English, foreign language, fine arts, social studies, theology), a "scholar-athlete" award, and a half dozen other awards that are given for things like social justice, school spirit, religious life, etc. There are also a dozen awards (one each) for major ECs like speech & debate, drama, tech theater, sports medicine, band, etc.</p>

<p>The school does not rank and there is no honor roll or similar recognition for high GPAs. The valedictorian and salutatorian are ELECTED by vote of the senior class to give a speech at the awards assembly (salutatorian) or at the graduation ceremony (valedictorian).</p>

<p>All sports awards are given out at separate ceremonies (held in the evening) that are attended just by the athletes and their parents/guests.</p>

<p>In addition, the Dad's Club honors "Distinguished Students" -- 15 in the fall and 15 in the spring. These are chosen by the Dad's Club from nominations submitted by teachers. "Distinguished" in this case can mean excellence in academics, community service, sports, and/or other school activities. Although the names of the those chosen for this honor are announced in the school newsletter, the actual award ceremony is held during a Dad's Club meeting in the evening.</p>

<p>In the graduation program, the name of each graduating senior is followed by the name of the college they plan to attend. At the back of the program, there are lists of National Merit Scholars/Finalists/Commended Students, those graduating with "First Honors" (GPA of 4.0+), National Honor Society members, those selected as Distinguished Students or receiving other major awards, and student government officers. Students can also choose to have any external awards they may have received listed in the program -- such as college scholarships, Eagle Scout, etc.</p>

42

<p>Our sch. has the awards ceremony at night at the end of May. Seniors wear their caps and gowns. Parents receive invitations if their child is to be recognized. Very few kids who are not being recognized bother to show up. It is held in the school gym and is agonizingly long (3 hours when S1 was a senior). Class awards are given in addition to community scholarships (lots of those). Some of the seniors speak about the teachers who had the greatest impact on them during h.s. The top 10 seniors names are called .</p>

<p>S2, a senior knows he will not be getting any type of award so we will not have to go this year</p>

43

<p>Our top ten students are acknowledged by the board of education at one of their meetings. Just the parents and top ten kids are invited. It's very nice...a certificate and a reception.</p>

44

<p>S was a die-hard under-achiever so this was all new to me with my D. At our (public) hs with about 1400 students, they have three events at which various students are recognized for honors; one is a general student assembly that recognizes all sorts of things, e.g. "Outstanding Attorney" award in Mock Trial competition, and two are in evening with parents--one for 3.8+ UW GPA students (their proxy for top 10% because they don't rank) and one for recipients of scholarships (D was told it was for local scholarship winners but hard to believe it wouldn't include the NM, Byrd, etc., although there's overlap.) I've now been to one of the parents-included sessions and after enduring it was ready to skip the second--D was all for it, but H wouldn't hear of it. I guess they are trying to keep from making ceremonies too long or in your face for kids who lost out, but it makes the already hectic Spring schedule of graduation events even worse. </p>

<p>I don't know what it means, if anything, but it was interesting to me that at the honors ceremony, they had a group/individual photo package available like they do for the sports teams, and less than 10% of the honors grad families purchased them, while probably less than 10% of sports families don't.</p>

45

<p>This whole awards ceremony discussion is fascinating. As many opinions as there are different high schools!</p>

<p>Coming from a school district where, until high school, there is no public recognition of honors (the "you're all special" theory) but PLENTY of recognition for athletes, I do feel happy that high school academic achievers at last get to step out of the masses. In the "real" world, high achievers get promotions, bonuses, and the like, and I think by high school it is time that kids learn that sometimes being second best means you work your tail off and somebody is still better than you. That happens. However, I know from what I've read on CC that many schools seem to fawn over the same high achievers over and over again and that is a problem. Schools that do a good job seem to have a clear and understandable formula by which they administer awards. Then, and only then, can the kids who win and the kids who don't feel they have been treated fairly.</p>

<p>To the kids who are consistently in the top 10 through four years of high school, I commend you. To the late bloomers, who just figure out by senior year that they could have done better, take that to college and use it as a platform for change.</p>

<p>Honors and awards to all who make it through high school unscathed by alcohol, drugs, or vicious gossip. Where are the awards for that level of achievement?</p>

46

<br>


<br>

<p>Yes...and that happens at DH's place of employment. Thank goodness we don't have to sit through a recitation of the bonuses and promotions at the annual party.</p>

<p>I have no problem with the recognition for those who do well. I DO have a problem with NOT recognizing those who do well...and I have a problem with the awards ceremonies which are interminably long, and recognize the same students over and over without looking out of the box.</p>

47

<p>In Elementary School they had "Success Assemblies"...they'd get certificates for reading so many books, being a crossing guard, whatever they did...everyone would get a certificate for their "personal success" (what they were most proud of). That was fine. Then the school decided that even that was unfair, because the real involved kids would get 6-10 certificates, while others would only get their personal success certificate. So....they started only reading the personal success certificate. Geez!</p>

48

<p>As a mom I enjoy them. Went last year for daughter(will go again this yr for son) and they do a nice job. It's done in the auditorium at the HS, moves along quickly, only those seniors receiving awards attend. The one drawback about ours-- they hold it the night before graduation in June, arghhh, as if you aren't busy enough. But if you have out-of-town guests and family, they can attend, which makes it extra special.<br>
Of course there's always that one kid that gets every award ever evented and is going to [prestigious school] and is the greatest ever-- But it's their one chance to shine, right?
I'm proud and glad for all the seniors; they have worked very hard and deserve the accolades. So for me, a definite Yea!</p>

49

<p>We could go back to the grade school mentality of "Everybody's a Winner!!!" (NEWSFLASH - the kids don't believe it either) or we can accept that competition is part of real life. Some people win, some people lose (and some people come in second). I have a poster of two racing yachts in my basement with a quote attributed to a response to the Queen of England, who after observing the first America's Cup race asked "Who came in second?" The reply was "Ah, your majesty, there is no second."</p>

<p>My son's public HS has a "Night of Excellence" to honor mostly academic excellence. Students and parents of students are invited, but are not told the award they will receive. Some know, some don't. Because it is left up to the various departments to determine how it will handle awards there are sometimes great discrepancies with the number of awards. There is usually an award for the best student in each subject, for example French 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (and sometimes an additional award for IB French 3, 4 and 5). It can get out of hand when they have all the award winners for the National French, Spanish, Latin, etc. Exams come up on stage because you are talking about 20-30 kids for each. Even P.E. gets in on the act giving a few awards to outstanding P.E. students. The music department gives an award to the best male and female (very PC) in each class. And the Home Ec department (I can't think of the new name for Home Ec) gives its awards, including one for the best single mom.</p>

<p>There was an Intel finalist one year, but I don't think she was given any special mention except with regard to other achievements. They do recognize some of the academic teams, like math, and some of those students also receive subject awards. The school recognizes high academic achievement in an unusual way. Because the school has a weighted and an unweighted GPA, it recognizes the 10 highest ranking students with a weighted GPA and the 10 highest ranking students with an unweighted GPA (different students). Lastly, the school recognizes about 10-20 seniors who have had a positive influence on the school. They may be athletes, musicians, editors of the school paper, thespians, and sometimes, just the guy who always has a smile and a greeting for everyone he sees. This award is not academic, although the high GPA students usually are represented to some degree.</p>

<p>There is relatively little duplication of students receiving awards and the most that I can recall was four. Scholarships were announced the first year we went, but not thereafter, except in recognizing someone for some other award. That was a long process because there were so many relatively small awards. The German and Latin teachers no longer call up all the National Exam winners, but the Spanish and French teachers still do. All in all, the awards ceremony takes about two hours. Each kid seems to have their own personal cheering section, probably because the awards span a cross-section of the school. Personally, I don't see a problem with an awards ceremony, but I recognize that some people want everyone to be a winner!!!</p>

50

<p>Our high school awards night was basically a scholarship presentation, by invite only, as the high school has a "common scholarship application" that provides the academic and financial background for the hs scholarship committee all in one place. This committee administers over one hundred different local awards, ranging from the top award of in excess of $100k over four years to a small number of $100 awards. I think the total package administered is in excess of $500 k annually.</p>

<p>Both S & D were honored, so we got to see their peers, many we've known from the elementary years forward through sports, music, and community programs. The program is well run, the awards are presented at a fairly fast-moving pace, with nothing drawn out.</p>

<p>It was a very pleasant change from the elementary and middle school awards ceremonies we've had to endure.</p>

<p>And the middle school one when my son left still irks me... he was a three-time Nat'l Geographic Society Geography Bee finalist, his best showing was third in the state.</p>

<p>We kept waiting for him to receive an accolade... not a peep. We weren't expecting anything special, but at least a mention of his achievement would have been nice.</p>

51

<p>That is one of the problem with formal awards ceremonies...they give whatever awards they are set to give at year end...there are kids who have done remarkable things throughout the year-geography bee, state art contest winner, etc., and if they're lucky, they get their name on the announcements.</p>

52

<p>LOL, Violadad. When my S was in seventh grade, we were "invited" to the annual middle school awards ceremony. At one point, they gave an award to every 8th grader who had an A average in French. Now, as it happens, my 7th grader was taking 8th grade French, and had an A average. No award. Oh. Then they gave out music awards...the 2 string players in the school orchestra (one of which was mine) were years ahead of the wind players in accomplishment. They were not only playing music that they could have played in 2nd grade, but they were forced to play oboe and flute parts. Who gets the music awards? Wind players. Oh. That was only the beginning of the myriad ways they found to ignore his accomplishments in middle school. (I could tell you tales...I joke that I have award ceremony PTSD.) I don't care if they give out awards or if they don't, but if they do, it ought to be reasonably fair. (Yeah, yeah, I know life isn't fair.)</p>

<p>Luckily, in HS it has been a different story, since they can't take his placements in various national language exams away from him and give them to Mr. Brown Nose. Last year my S placed first in the state in two languages, and received a one-per-state award. I finally felt able to put the seventh grade debacle behind me! :)</p>

53

<p>Ours is very cool and unique, though a little different every year. It has two parts:</p>

<p>1st - a relatively short all-school attendance awards ceremony. Usually around 5 students form each grade are honored, though this number is much higher for the senior class. Categories change a bit year-to-year. This part is sometimes interesting, and sometimes repetitive of prior years. It just depends.</p>

<p>2nd - the cool part. We have an open mike, and for an hour students and faculty recognize each other in front of everyone. Maybe the mock trial team didn't give any awards, but someone did a great job - this would be the time to give that shout-out. These are both thanks and recognitions, and are really appreciated by a lot of people. People who are involved in a lot of activities tend to get a lot of shout-outs.</p>

54

<p>Consolation: the same thing happened to me in middle school. I was in eighth grade classes and going to high school next year, so I didn't get any seventh-grade awards. But I was technically a seventh-grader, so I didn't get any eighth-grade awards. This is not just me being bitter - around 3/4 of the class got awards and I was definitely one of the top students in our class and participated in sports, etc.</p>

55

<p>Our school does an awards ceremony that sohpomores-seniors must attend (awards are for the previous year, so freshman don't need to be there), as well as an end-of-year seniors-only graduation/awards deal which all seniors attend. I think asking students to attend awards ceremonies is not unjustified - though it's been fought against in the past - because all kinds of other artistic and (especially) sporting achievements are recognized in assemblies and the like. I se no reason not to do the same for academics.</p>

56

<p>I'm in that middle school club too. My son didn't get the Math prize when he was in 7th grade because it only went to 8th graders, and he didn't get it in 8th grade because by then he was taking classes at the high school. High School has been different. They gave him the math prize as a sophomore.</p>

57

<p>I actually like the end of the year award ceremonies. There are the yearly honor roll student awards ( all four years ) Yes, it is long and the seniors that are in NHS are up on stage for the entire time, with announcements about where they will attend college. The nice part about it is most parents leave after their kids get theirs, so they are not forced to sit thru the entire ceremony.
This year, as my daughter is a senior, I anticipate three ceremonies. This one first, followed by a small scholarship award ceremony...no athletics, just community based. The last one will be the really long one with all students that get scholarships...merit, arts, sports , awards through their colleges and all of the local community awards.
Even though it is long, I enjoy watching all of the kids receive their awards and to hear where they will be attending.
Besides graduation, it marks the end of their 12 yrs of schooling and it is bittersweet to see.
I went to my my older daughter's two yrs ago and I was a little annoyed to see some of the students that received multiple awards have expressionless faces when they went up on stage...some of them really cam off as being bored and unappreciative of the money thrown their way.
I love to see the kids who are truly happy to receive their awards.</p>

58

<p>Hey Math folks, you'd like being in our school district. I remember a 5th grade (elementary) awards assembly (sorry, "success" assembly) where it was announced that one of the 5th graders who was being bussed to the middle school for math had won the award at the middle school for the highest 6th grade average in math.</p>

59

<p>sishu7: I love the open mike idea. Does it turn into a popularity thing or are deserving kids, who might have normally been overlooked, recognized by their cohorts?</p>