<p>Does it matter? I mean seriously, most college admission websites say that high school diploma is not technically needed anymore.</p>
<p>Eight: I think that probably, as far as the state and the school district go, she has technically earned her diploma and is only missing the piece of paper the administration bullies won’t hand over. </p>
<p>However, although a diploma is not needed for most colleges (especially community colleges), as of January 1 (I think) students now must have either a diploma or a GED to qualify for financial aid. The “ability-to-benefit” pathways are no longer an option. </p>
<p>Let’s hope the bullies here aren’t standing in the way of the student receiving whatever financial aid she was awarded.</p>
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<p>What?! That’s a euphemism? Sorry, clueless…I wonder what other stuff I have heard and perhaps even say are euphemisms whose meanings I don’t understand!</p>
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<p>Actually, some schools (especially community colleges/local universities) request that students bring an official copy of their final transcript along with the original diploma to school when they take the placement test. </p>
<p>This is a challenge right now in for some NYC students who completed high school over the summer and are attending CUNY, because they haven’t been certified as grads (they must be certified by at least one GC and one administrator.</p>
<p>School is essentially closed this week as many APs who worked over the summer are on vacation and do not return until 8/27 and GC don’t return until 9/4.</p>
<p>While I think the school district is overreacting, I do think that phrases like “how the hell” and “that sucks” are not appropriate for a high school valedictorian speech, and someone who goes ahead and uses them despite being advised not to be well-meaning teachers, etc. is displaying immaturity and a lack of a sense of occasion.</p>
<p>I see a lot of students resorting to verbal vulgarity because, frankly, they don’t have the vocabulary to be very creative or effective in their expression of frustration, annoyance etc. Or, they use casual profanity so often that they don’t even realize that as such, it’s not appropriate in certain settings, such as the classroom or many workplaces. That’s a failure of prior socialization in my view; students should have developed a sense of verbal decorum by the time they are 18.</p>
<p>It’s one thing to curse when you stub your toe on a chair leg at home. It’s another to not even realize that it’s not okay to do it everywhere.</p>
<p>I think most people agree that she shouldn’t have used that word in that venue. But, with all th trouble that high school kids get into, I can’t for the life of me see how this infraction merits denying the student her diploma. </p>
<p>And, what’s up with the principal holding the diploma for over a month after everyone else’s was mailed and just waiting for the student and her dad to go to the school to pick it up and only then explaining that “we have a problem”? That is totally passive agressive on his part.</p>
<p>Some people really like their 15 minutes of fame. </p>
<p>While the school cannot be applauded for an open mind, this valedictorian could be a LOT smarter. She will find out that there were a dozen ways to make this better. It might have been a slip of the tongue, but she deviated from the script she had proposed. Obviously, the school wanted to send a message to the generations to come. </p>
<p>All this person would nee to do is spent a few minutes typing a letter of apology about the small slip, and then go on to maintain a solid relationship with her school. As clueless as the administrators (and teachers) of one HS might be, they remain a formidable source of references for college life, applying to internships, and even jobs. </p>
<p>She spent years building a formidable resume, and ruined it by trying to be funny (probably not an innocent mistake) and compounding the problems by refusing to write a simple letter and taking her story to the press. She WILL find out that NOTHING positive ever comes out from talking to those vultures. NOTHING!</p>
<p>This must be in the national school administrator’s handbook, ie when students misbehave at graduation they must be given severe punishments that far exceed the seriousness of their “crime,” to get their attention. Punishments will of course later be reduced.</p>
<p>Locally a young man elaborately hooked up his gown so that it dropped during the graduation ceremony, revealing… his boxer shorts! Gasp! His punishment was a LIFETIME ban * from all school property in Mecklenburg County North Carolina! (I still laugh just writing that). After much outcry I think his ban was reduced to 1 year.</p>
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<li> Can you imagine the 25 year reunion committee? Oh, and remember Joe Shmo? He can’t come to the reunion because he dropped trou at graduation.</li>
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<p>LOL NJres…that is hilarous! My sons speach was sarcastic, and not liked by admin much because it took direct digs at them, but it did not have any swear words in it.</p>
<p>And people wonder why small, rural towns are dying - people moving away, kids heading for the cities, etc.</p>
<p>Close-minded nonsense like this is a last gasp of another era.</p>
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<p>I’m not sure maintaining a “solid relationship” with one’s high school is necessary after graduation/college matriculation…unless one is inclined of his/her own free will. </p>
<p>IME, most HS classmates and I used college Professors/part-time work supervisors outside of school as our references for internships and part-time/full-time jobs…especially after freshman year. </p>
<p>Some part-time supervisors I’ve had during undergrad tended to look skeptically upon an undergrad applicant whose references were mostly/solely from high school sources…especially if he/she’s a sophomore or upperclassman. They also tended to look upon a high school admin’s recommendation skeptically unless the student in question actually had him/her for a class or worked closely with him/her on a project of some kind.</p>
<p>^^^ that is true, cobrat, unless you are from a small town and plan to return there, or want to go into teaching in the same area. Or you have other reasons to remain connected. </p>
<p>Burning bridges is usually not a good idea. Sometimes, it is the only option. And sometimes your sense of right and wrong makes it hard to see that burning those bridges may not be the best idea. </p>
<p>How that students future plays out will determine what the right action was.</p>
<p>xiggi,</p>
<p>most of the time I find I agree with you – but not this time.</p>
<p>High school is in her rear view mirror and rapidly receding.</p>
<p>If, in the near term, she should ever need a reference, I am sure she can get one from the relevant teacher. By Thanksgiving, should she need a reference, she will have professors and advisors.</p>
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<p>Look, I will not counter that with some stories about “my friends who …” but all I can say is that maintaining close ties to the people who worked with you during your high school years can be beneficial. Of course, this might depend entirely on what type of student and citizen you were at your school, and if there was more to talk than about being valedictorian. </p>
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<p>For some that might be true. For others, who value the continuation of projects that were started during the HS school days, it is a different story. The references are not necessarily based on those days only, but could be about work/relations that … survived the graduation and were expanded during the college years. </p>
<p>There is a say about “From whom much is given, much is expected” and some take that to heart when continuing to support their high school and the next generations of students.</p>
<p>Perhaps, there is a dividing line that espouses the alumni relation with public universities, and this might not really apply to the public HS.</p>
<p>@ ellemenope Shut the front door is also a euphemism for Shut the <em>beep</em> up.</p>
<p>Xiggi, this young woman <em>might</em> need a high school reference in the next 6 or 8 months. But, if that turns out to be the case, she almost certainly will seek one from a teacher who knew her well enough to commment on details of her performance or personality. I’d bet all of the teachers who were potential references BEFORE graduation would jump at the chance to give her a recommendation now. This one slip up on her part is not going to change their experience with or opinion of her one bit. </p>
<p>She needs to stick to her guns here. Unless and until every other student who broke a school rule prior to or during the graduation has his or her diploma withheld, she should NOT apologize. She is being held to a different standard than other rule-breaking students. Why do you suppose that is?</p>
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<p>When the best and brightest begin to break the rules, it’s a danger to the people currently in charge: those students may actually have the credibility to affect change by gaining widespread support.</p>
<p>Sticking to her guns? And for what exact purposes? To score “brownie” points in the court of public opinion? To show she possesses a spine and the spirit to fight an administration? </p>
<p>That makes as much sense as this entire sorry story so far. What is the downside of writing that silly apology and move on? Burning bridges and showing continuing immaturity is hardly a recipe for success.</p>
<p>LoremIpsum: I agree to some extent, expect that the “rule” (not even sure there was a rule) here pales in comparison, I’m sure, to a multitude of other rules that her classmates broke, for which they undoubtedly got a comparative slap on the hand. </p>
<p>Xiggi: The downside is that she would be letting herself be bullied by more powerful people for no good reason. Again, I’m sure that these are bridges she doesn’t mind burning. She undoubtedly has many many more mentors from whom she can secure glowing recommendations. She played the game all through high school. She is no longer one of the principal’s subjects. She was rude, and probably should apologize, BUT not as a condition of earning her diploma back.</p>
<p>LoremIpsum: In rereadng your post, I see I read too quickly earlier! You make a very very good point.</p>