Senior Awards Rants

Parents Forum
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<p>Our HS gives awards for the top student in each AP class. My daughter was told by her teacher that she would get the AP Physics award. A week later he asked if she was a senior and she responded that she was a junior. For some reason, the science department decided they would only recognize seniors for the awards (other departments had no such rules). While the recognition itself wasn’t important (she got her share of other awards), it seems ludicrous to me to exclude underclassmen for these awards when they could be helpful in their college applications while it is too late to be of such use to seniors.</p>

<p>QuantMech - I just wanted to pass on that she loves your location in Hilbert Space.</p>

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<p>Wow! Thank you for this thread. What an eye-opener. I have never attended a senior awards ceremony. </p>

<p>We got a phone call last week to inform us Son will be getting “something” at his ceremony. “Oh, nice,” we thought. “That must be his NHS stole and a certificate for his ROTC scholarship.” We also assumed all the other kids’ scholarships would be recognized, too. </p>

<p>It never occurred to me that there might be department awards, subjective awards, teacher awards, etc. Further, I feel really naive for not realizing some of these might be awarded unfairly. What a shame. </p>

<p>Boy, we learn something new everyday. At least now I know that I should be cautious in any conversations after the fact. Don’t want to fan any flames of bitterness by accident. Maybe I’ll just smile and nod.</p>

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<p>I agree … this is a mean-spirited thread, although some of the gripes are legitimate. S’s senior awards ceremony was Tuesday and it was long-winded and boring. But he worked hard to get the awards he won and he deserves to be publicly recognized for them. He was a little miffed at not being named World Scholar by his geography/social studies teacher, but he’ll get over it.
One thing did grate on me, however. The alumna of our state so-called flagship who presented their scholarships butchered the name of practically every kid on the list, even ones that most people can easily pronounce. Would it have killed her to get with one of the administration first and ask about the names she was not familiar with? At one point she tried to excuse herself, saying “If it’s not Smith or Jones, I can’t pronounce it.” I whispered to my husband “That’s because she went to (state so-called flagship)!”</p>

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<p>I’m definitely going to read this whole thread before our senior awards banquet on June 10.</p>

<p>So far, my only rant is that the band teacher did not “urge” us to come to the music awards last week. The county tennis awards were the same night and we went to that (the coach had given me the heads up that my freshman S would be getting something so my whole family, including my senior D, went to that). Next day, D texts me that she got the Oustanding Symphonic Band Member award (plaque and $$). She was kind of disappointed that she wasn’t there. On the bright side, I just got a letter yesterday that parents should inform the guidance dept of any awards their senior has received in advance of the June 10 event. Maybe they will announce it there also? Or at least have it in the program? I sent an email off right away to the guidance dept.</p>

<p>I’m looking forward to the June 10 event - I was involved with our PTA extensively in elementary school and know so many of the graduating class. It’s great to see all they have accomplished. I WILL be clapping for kids other than my own!</p>

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<p>Our high school does the awards ceremony during the day and the entire student body attends. If your kid is going to be recognized for something, then parents get a letter ahead of time notifying them in case they wish to arrange their schedule to attend. I’ve always heard the reason they have it for the entire student body is because they wish to illustrate to the freshman, sophomores and juniors what hard work can accomplish. </p>

<p>Regarding the valedictorian not getting any awards… I’ve heard of more than one valedictorian whose only goal was to become valedictorian, and sacrificed all else to do so. One val even chastised other students who were taking non-weighted classes (such as band/choir) because it would bring down their GPA. These kinds of kids show no ability to be well-rounded in their education. All they care about are the grades. This particular valedictorian could not get into any selective school and ended up at our local flagship U. But he got to be val, and that’s what he wanted; I sure hope he (nor his parents) were disappointed that he didn’t get any other awards.</p>

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<p>I love it when the National Merit Scholarship Awards are presented along with the National Achievement Awards and the National Hispanic Scholar Awards…the latter two being awards that essentially insult black and hispanic students by clearly implying that they are not able to compete for the actual Merit Scholarship awards. Very embarrassing for all concerned.</p>

107

<p>I presented a couple of book awards this year and in one case made a point of asking how to pronounce the student’s last name. The guidance counselor gave me the WRONG pronunciation! I dutifully used it, and then felt like an idiot.</p>

<p>Regarding college-level awards and fellowships and so forth, </p>

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<p>Touching to believe this, but it simply is not true. Such things continue to be rife with politics.</p>

108

<p>I find it amusing that people claim the thread is meanspirited and then go on to complain. We all have different perspectives on these awards and it is helpful to read about someone else’s point of view. Schools are all different. Even though our school does not use weighted averages, all 3 of our top students are IB diploma candidates taking the toughest courses and completing 150 CAS (community service, athletic, art) hours; they are not grade grubbers. I can understand, however, why a valedictorian with no outside activities might be resented. If my S gets a departmental award, I will be happy; if he doesn’t, I hope, after reading all of these posts, that I will not take it too seriously.</p>

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<p>Reading this reminds me of my sister’s hs valedictorian debacle. I am old, and my school system only offered AP English, so the valedictorian was the person with the highest unweighted gpa. The val took secretarial courses, home ec courses and only the bare minimum of science and math to graduate. The sal took the most rigorous honors courses and was leader for every club possible. It stung not to see the sal be honored, until we learned that the val could only go to college if she had full scholarship. She went to school on her full-ride to IVY Tech community college and is very happy as an executive assistant to this day.</p>

110

<p>

Piker! It’s three hours here. (just razzin’ ya, bandp ;)) But, as if that isn’t long enough, the administration recently added an Alumni Hall of Fame portion of the ceremony, during which much recogntion/rear kissing is heaped upon 5 noted alums. It was already a long enough evening handing out the 600 awards. Starting it half an hour earlier in order to read long commendations about people who used to attend the school pushes the audience to the breaking point.</p>

<p>No problem with honoring noted alums. Big problem with doing it in front of a captive audience. The evening should belong to the students. I promise you, none of the kids there are listening with starry eyes, thinking, “That could be me some day!” They, and everyone else, are thinking, “When do we get out of here?”</p>

<p>And one of the noted alums pretty much invented reality television. And they honored him for that. :rolleyes:</p>

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<p>I can’t. You know the expression “Living well is the best revenge”? So far, knock on wood, my kids have a reasonable shot at going to some pretty decent schools that will presumably suit them well. As long as they get that, then whoever won some award in high school doesn’t particularly strike me as all that important. But then again, I have very much of a “use high school and get out of there” mentality. My kids like their hs well enough and have a decent amount of academic success, but it doesn’t seem to be something where I think they need put a lot of emotional energy nor care what everyone else thinks. I think the game starts in college, as far as I’m concerned.</p>

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<p>At my son’s graduation, students’ awards and honors were designated by tassels, cords, and medals that they wore as they walked. There were no announcements other than each student’s name, college destination, and intended major. There was no valedictorian; the student speaker was selected from open auditions a few weeks prior. I’m very happy with this approach.</p>

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<p>BTW, congrats, m-s, and I hope your son is excited about Ole Miss and his very neat program!</p>

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<p>Somehow, at D’s high school, the valedictorian managed not to receive a single academic award other than the one for being valedictorian. Excuse me, but didn’t he by definition have to have done better than everyone else in at least one class or subject? *</p>

<p>This can happen when a student is strong in EVERY subject, yet not make the top percentage in any one class - especially if letter grades aren’t looked at, but decimals to the hundredth place. A student with a year-end score of 99.98 will get the award over another student with a score of 99.90.</p>

<p>At my kids’ school, they use a 100 scale for figuring each award, so a child could consistently get high percents in every class, just not the highest in every class.</p>

<p>My younger son was the Sal, yet he never won any class awards the entire 4 years at high school. But, he ended up with the second highest GPA in his class, because he did very well in EVERY subject. Sometimes a subject award winner is only strong in one or two subjects and/or didn’t take as many AP classes which bump GPAs. I’m sure that when my younger son was named Sal, there were some people that were surprised since he had never won a subject award during any of his years at school. He had always been on the Principal’s Honor Roll (all A’s), so it wasn’t like the honor was from left field or anything, but people do tend to assume that certain kids will be the Val and Sal simply because they’ve seen them get awards thru the years. One girl, who had always been a consistent award winner, and she was many people’s assumed Val or Sal, wasn’t even a top 5 student because she took less AP classes (the school announces the top 5 students at graduation). </p>

<p>On the other hand, I understand the poster’s confusion because of what should be expected…my older son was the Val of his class, and he always won 2-3 subject awards every year. So, I know that the latter case sounds more expected, but the former case can happen as well without any shenanigans going on.</p>

<p>(My only complaint is when teachers are allowed to use subjective means to determine the class awards. The AP Euro/Gov teacher was notorious for only giving the top awards to students whose politics matched her own (she used her classroom as a soapbox). After numerous complaints, she was told that she had to give the award to the student with the highest points and to stop politicking in the classroom. She never could contain herself with the last request, so they got another teacher to teach AP Gov.)</p>

115

<p>My high school is a huge feeder school to the university in the town, Tennessee Technological University. At senior awards night, most of the awards are given by the dean of admissions at Tennessee Tech. He will call out the students and their scholarships. Well, his daughter, a very, very gifted and intelligent girl, was the last person to receive an award from that portion. He went on and on about her NMF qualifications and her giftedness, which is totally fine. Then he announced that she was receiving the highest award the school offers, and to only one qualified person. It was a full tuition scholarship, valued at $36,000. Everyone ooed and aahed. The rest of the ceremony were departmental awards and scholarships from other schools that the kids are going to.</p>

<p>I got an NROTC scholarship. It’s a national competition and covers full tuition, books, fees, and a monthly stipend. Now it’s up to the guidance counselor to contact the naval office to make the presentation. She dropped the ball. They were only going to give me a little certificate. No one would know what the heck the scholarship even was!</p>

<p>Luckily, there was a marine corps petty officer there giving out small little marine corps awards. My dad went up to him and told him about my scholarship. Throughout the rest of the program and until my name was called, he was madly scribbling things down and talking to my parents. When I was called, the petty officer informed the crowd that I had earned a scholarship and everything it entailed. Including the service to my country, what it takes to get one, and the monetary value, $180,000. </p>

<p>It wasn’t so much that they didn’t have my recognition, it’s that they spent so much time with the Tennessee Tech scholarships. They were overemphasizing lesser achievements. There were kids who got into Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Emory, Brown, and the Univ of Rochester to name a few. None of these kids were recognized. Only those who chose Tenn Tech, which is kind of the back up for most of us, seeing as they accept 93% of their applicants.</p>

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<p>The main person who organizes our comunity scholarship awards night is very organized. Last year, I was the presenter for the HS Booster Club and arrived early, as requested. She had all the info I needed to make the presentation and, quite nicely, had index cards with the student names and, as necessary, a pronunication key as well. I thought it was a nice touch, a nice aid for the presenters, and quite respectful to students and their families with ethnic names.</p>

117

<p>Our school does some whacko annoying things. This year: a kid who was home-schooled for 11 years enrolled the bg. of his sr. year. Board policy and administrative superintendent policy is very clear on this. All home-school grades prior to enrollment are listed as P/F on the transcript and student is not eligible for class rank or NHS. Our gc, who is a rant thread in herself, listed grades. All came to light 10 days ago–grad is June 6th. It’s been a debacle. I have nothing against home schooling, but this parent is “gaming” the system–she wants to home-school, fine, but then wants to enroll them for sr. year and get the state “Academic Honors Diploma” awarded by an accredited HS? She did the same thing 3 years ago with her D too.</p>

<p>That’s annoying, but this is just plain mean–last year the girl who had been #1 for the last 12 years was led to believe she was Val. It is tradition in our school that Val’s parents/grandparents get the front corner seats on the gym floor. Her parents were seated there. 45 minutes later, they give the Val. award to the girl who had been #2. This girl was told a day before grad. she was going to be the Val, but the girl who was the assumed Val. was never informed she was NOT the val. Wow, just wow. This is a class of ~45 kids; everyone knows everyone in the community.</p>

<p>Her parents were astounded. They kept their heads up, but geez, what a way to mar graduation memories for life. The pain that could have been alleviated by communication by adminstration. If #2 student moved to #1, so be it…but to not inform the kid and parents is cruel. I felt really sorry for her and her parents.</p>

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<p>Did you ever notice that at the 9/11 memorial ceremonies when family members of the victims read the names of all the 9/11 victims, they manage to get the pronunciation right? Every ethnicity/nation/language is represented in those names and each name is accorded proper dignity and respect by the person reading the name. That’s because it matters. If the principals of high schools or their representatives can’t manage to pronounce the names of their students correctly, I can only infer that they just don’t give a damn.</p>

<p>I will be attending my very first senior awards ceremony next week. Here’s my litmus test. If I find myself rooting and cheering for all the winners, I’ll know the administration did a great job nominating the kids. I am ashamed to say that sometimes I find myself rooting against a particular kid who seems arrogant and less than gracious about his/her achievements.</p>

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<p>At my d’s high school, students could get weighted credit for college classes, and they could take a wide array of classes at the local community colleges or CSU’s. The kid in my d’s class who everyone thought would be valedictorian (#1 all the way through) – ended up graduating in #3 spot simply because a couple of “invisible” kids turned in their college transcripts at the end of senior year and of course with the weighted credit ended up with the highest GPA. (My d. would have been Sal, but similarly was bumped down). By “invisible” I mean that the kids weren’t well known and were off everyone’s radar – probably precisely because they were taking so many college classes. </p>

<p>So one reason that such a kid may not be getting a “class” award is simply that they might not be in the classes where the award is given because of advanced level work.</p>

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<p>My turn. (And because this is a RANT thread, it’s long.) ;)</p>

<p>Coming from a highly regarded northeastern public high school where they really do try oh so hard to get things right but can’t seem to get out of their own way at times. I have sat on scholarship committees with people at the school so what follows is not rank speculation. As with most of these issues where subjective decisions are made based upon inexact criteria, everyone has a gripe. A few thoughts:</p>

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<li><p>There is no question that the perception is that the guidance office is steering scholarships to certain students based upon perceived favoritism or perceived financial need. And the guidance office does little to dissuade people of this perception. It is as if they think they’re doing God’s work in spreading wealth. This works fine when awarding scholarships are need-sensitive (per the donors) but there are some scholarships where need is not a factor and the subject of need has arisen and been considered.</p></li>
<li><p>It would appear that our guidance office is engaging in some form of allocating so that star students do not receive “too many” scholarships. Desirable? Think about this hypothetical situation: A student at the high school is the best underwater basket weaver in the history of the school and the school has a rich history of underwater basket weaving with as many as 100 students participating each year. There are several scholarships awarded locally for this activity, some small ($100-$500 sponsored by local eateries) and others significant ($1,000+ per year renewable, from larger foundations). For whatever reason, the donors do not want to be involved in selection so they rely on the school. Does the best-ever student get all the money? Or do they get the biggie and the other smaller ones get distributed on some order of merit? A fair question, no? Our school takes the latter approach.</p></li>
<li><p>There are community organizations that award scholarships and there seems to be a significant degree of favoritism in these scholarships over the years. This is so significant that for a (very) few of these awards, many people do not even consider applying.</p></li>
<li><p>The school compiles financial need data (for need-based local scholarships) on a one-page form that the students or their parents complete on their own. There is no verification of this data and it has been alleged that people are less than truthful.</p></li>
<li><p>Some scholarships awarded by outside groups depend wholly on data provided by the school. While that might sound desirable, the reality is that the overworked counselors that provide this data frequently do not know enough about the students. This is especially so in the case of students who have achieved at the highest levels of endeavors not in the mainstream of high school student life. These students are frequently overlooked at scholarship time while the prom queen, quarterback, valedictorian, and class clown get awards. Outside organizations should permit students to state their own cases for receipt of these awards/scholarships instead of relying on school officials who frankly do not have any idea about many of these students.</p></li>
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<p>My number one gripe (after all, this is a RANT thread) is that every year there will be students who are pot-smoking drunkards who will win scholarships that have, in part, character as part of the criteria. This, in my mind, is the biggest disgrace of all.</p>