<p>My daughter had a small disappointment regarding graduation honors last year. She was presented with the salutatorian medal and then at graduation rehearsal was informed that there had been a mistake and she wasn't it after all. I was angry at the time about how the situation was handled, but my daughter was truly over it by the next day and really enjoyed all of the graduation festivities. I think the young woman in this story clearly has a lot going for her and will soon be able to look back on the situation as a minor and temporary disappointment as she goes on to even greater accomplishments.</p>
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<p>What wisdom is expressed in that statement! :)
Yes, it is supposed to be all about the learning, rather than the awards. (Sometimes the two correspond well, but not always, and the game-players may lose sight of the original objective.)</p>
<p>I am very glad my school district chooses graduation speakers by a procedure other than GPA. (Kids try out and a committee decides who speaks.)</p>
<p>Class rank is flawed at almost all schools. I went to my girlfriend's graduation yesterday, and noticed that someone in the top 10 students was not in National Honor Society. That doesn't make sense to me, because everyone at my school that takes 3 honors classes a year and maintains a 3.0 is accepted in. Maybe she has a 4.0, but a 4.0 with 6 classes a year, with only 2 or less honors/AP, should not rank top 10 when last year our number 10 student had a 3.5 in all honors and AP classes (five a semester because we took Religion). The girl wasn't in our special math/physics program, or the combined history/english class, didn't take APs...that's just showing how a ranking system can be flawed.</p>
<p>At oD's school there were two graduation speakers: one was chosen by the faculty, and the other was voted for by the student body. Pretty fair. yD'd school lists one speaker in its program besides the ten vals and one sal (who do not get to speak, I hope). At the latter school kids get their diplomas in alphabetical order. At the former, they were doing it in the order according to their rank :eek: It sure sucked to be the last one in line!</p>
<p>Do top students get into NHS automatically? S wasn't in it because he did not apply. . .</p>
<p>MY Ds HS was so stress free in this catagory. No scholarship $ so that pressure was not there; the validictorian is chosen based only on a speech competition, voted by the students.</p>
<p>All grades are given as a percentage of 100, so it is difficult for students to tie over time. Year end awards are per subject and seem to go to the top grade and top involved kids, but in most years they spread them around so even if you earn more than one, unless the lead over others was dramatic.</p>
<p>When I hear about these other sagas, I realise how smart their set up was.</p>
<p>At my school, every student is given an extremely short application for NHS aslong as they fufill the requirements. It's like a one-paragraph essay.</p>
<p>I think it's the same at our hs; my S just didn't think it was worth bothering.</p>
<p>At our hs, invitations to apply for admittance to the NHS are issued each spring to sophomores and juniors who have maintained a minimum 3.75 gpa for at least 3 quarter marking periods. The subsequent application requires a lengthy description of leadership and service contributions to the school and community, as well as an essay and teacher recommendations. Few students who qualify by grade point average are admitted each year; many do not even complete the application because they lack service or leadership accomplishments. Once admitted, NHS members must not only maintain the minimum gpa, but contribute a minimum of 40 hours per school year of service and must show evidence of continued leadership.</p>
<p>My older son (who would have easily qualified on all counts) choose not to jump through the hoops. My younger son was thrilled to make it in as a sophomore and appreciates the recognition.</p>
<p>Our process is the same as archiemom. Lots of kids who apply and have the GPA don't get in because they don't have anything else but the grades.</p>
<p>My h.s. had a similar process for NHS. I never bothered to apply. If S's school has something like that, I can guarantee he won't bother!!</p>
<p>My daughter's high school is the same way, but this year they had a little problem. They use the NHS kids to do certain tutoring and too few kids qualified this year, so a handful who were close were let in with the understanding that they had to work harder.</p>
<p>Need the cheap labor, huh?</p>
<p>At d's school, there was an application process similar to, but not as rigorous as, the one described by archiemom. A committee of teachers & administrators then decided who was admitted. GPA was not sufficient. D was actually surprised that she made it while a couple of her friends, whom she thought were more qualified, didn't.</p>
<p>"Need the cheap labor, huh?"</p>
<p>Yup. The principal used to use her discretionary budget to have teachers tutor, which they still do, but she closes the gap with NHS kids. They do, however, get to use the tutoring as part of their CAS if they're in IB.</p>
<p>The girl in the video doesn't sound all that bright; inarticulate speech.</p>
<p>beefs, her way of speaking does not mean she is not bright. I know many brilliant scientists who are terrible public speakers. However, when it comes to their field, very few can rival them. I also know a few empty shells who speak very well.</p>
<p>Our HS also requires "cheap labor" for NHS. How else would they accomplish twice-a-year cleanup of the school grounds?</p>
<p>Yea, sorry there really wasn't a point to that. Just pointing it out. Regardless, if she really wants the val award, she should stay for the fourth year; who's to say that her gpa wouldn't go down in senior year, I know mine did tremendously.</p>
<p>" She said a counselor assured her that doing so wouldn't affect her valedictorian status because she earned her four years of high school credit in the district's schools. Officials had no comment about what a counselor may have said."</p>
<p>Anyone ever known of a guidance counselor to give bad info about school policy? Um,.... sounds plausible to me. She did look into it, and she was given bad info. I might be peeved on that count if it were my child, too. (and, for the record, ALL my kids have been way out of the val race from freshman year... )</p>
<p>If a student maintains straight A's while taking the most advanced courses available, then class ranking is essentially irrelevant and will have no significant effect on any admission to a college or a student's future. </p>
<p>When I was in high school, I took driver's ed over the summar, as did the other kid in my class who had straight A's. We both took the most advanced courses available at our school. For some reason, driver's ed did not show up on his transcript, so he was ranked higher than I was (because an A in driver's ed lowered my GPA). This happened between sophomore and junior years. I never complained. Finally in 12th grade, he received a B in an English course, so I graduated as valedictorian. Even if he had never received a B, I would not have complained, because it didn't make any difference to me. This girl and her father are crybabies who need to get on with their lives.</p>