Even though only 5 out of 600 students in my school made national merit, the school did absolutely nothing to recognize them. Because of that, most students in my school don’t even know what the competition is, and are not motivated to qualify because they don’t feel appreciated anyway. But at least we planned for a month in advance to congratulate the homecoming nominees…
Three out of ~800 made National Merit in my grade. No recognition, although the football team was recognized for their end of season performance. Is a school’s purpose to promote academics or sports?
Two years ago, my kid and another kid were the first kids in the district to win NMF since probably forever. DD’s counselor was excited, but that was going to be it.
Then the local paper (small community, small paper) printed a story on it. Literally the next day the kids were told they’d be honored at the next school board meeting. Embarrassed much?
Still, there was no public recognition by any school official.
o.O
And, perhaps. I mean, even in schools like my oldest’s that don’t have a sports program, there are still efforts made by the administration to promote a sense of community on both the academic and social sides.
My school has produced very few NMFs. Last I checked, we’ve had one student achieve that title, and he went on to attend Harvard. If I end up getting the award (fingers crossed!), they’ll probably announce it over the intercom and I’ll go about my business. Unfortunately, football and homecoming court still take the cake around here!
My school did WAY too much. I’m apparently the first person in my school’s history (or even the whole southern part of my school district) to get Semi-finalist. So they oversold it like crazy. I got invited to the Magnet Award ceremonies as the guest of honor (I’m not actually in the school’s magnet program) and the principal called me a “National Merit Scholar” right then and there and even gave me a plaque that said National Merit Scholar even though I’d explained to her before that I was just semi-finalist. And I couldn’t just be like “well, um, actually I’m just a semi-finalist” when she had just finished giving a 10 minute long speech about how I was an inspiration and reference point to all other students that showed they could become a National Merit Scholar too and saying how I was in contact with all the Ivy League Schools (which isn’t true at all).
Also, I had 2 full pages written about me in the school news paper and all my teachers started telling my classmates that I wasn’t going to ever have to pay for school no matter where i go because i was a NMS and they should be more like me. The principal announced it on the morning announcements on the days leading up to the PSAT this year. They even started announcing it on the intercom during the football games (I don’t play football or anything, so I have no idea why they did this).
And all this escalated to all these rumors that I got a perfect SAT score and am the valedictorian of the class and all this other stuff that is far from the truth (I only got 2000 on SAT). Now, even the people at the top of my class are always jokingly asking to trade brains with me and saying they wish they thought like me when i know good and well they are doing MUCH better in school than me.
The worst part of all this is that I’m most likely not going to advance to Finalist. I already have 4 Cs on my high school transcript and an unimpressive list of extra-curriculars. Plus, my principal and guidance counselor made me take AP classes this year since I’d only taken one before in 10th grade (which I should have failed but the teacher passed me with a C). Long story short, that was a horrible idea because I’m failing ALL of those AP classes with grades in the 30s and 40s. It’s the end of the semester, with just one week left (finals week) so it’s unlikely I will pass the classes unless my teachers just pass me.
My parents and principal want me to go to an Ivy League school, mainly Harvard, but they don’t seem to believe me when I tell them I have NO chance whatsoever of getting in. I have actually gotten into a lot of arguments with my dad over this lately, as he thinks I’m refusing to waste my time applying to Harvard just to be defiant. He thinks I could get a full ride there if I just applied (yes, ridiculous, I know).
Wow, this just turned into a flat out rant, but yeah. Hope it answered the question.
it was me and one other person this year. they announced our names during morning announcements, no one really payed attention but I got a few congratulations from people in my homeroom
I was quite taken by a practice of our school district. Our school district sends a letter to the semifinalist and asks who the elementary, middle school and high school teacher that most inspired them. They then host a cake and cookies reception at the district school board meeting and recognize the student with the three teachers, parents and local elected officials. Each teacher and student is presented with a “resolution” in a nice folder and pictures are taken. Further, each teacher is added to the list of previous teachers who have been listed as most inspirational. Some have been listed 5 and 7 times. It’s an honor to not only recognize the kids but the selection of a teacher memorializes them in perpetuity. Two of my son’s teachers he named were first of second year teachers in the school district and he was the first person who picked them. Forever, whenever a student is recognized, those teachers will be remembered. We were able to share memories with his second grade, 7th grade and a teacher he had all four years in high school. My younger son who is in 8th grade quickly shared who his elementary and middle school teacher will be “when he qualifies” creating a vision to work forward. This cost almost nothing for the school to do and makes so much sense. I wish all schools would adopt this and give recognition to teachers who truly make a difference.
Wow, some of you have some cool traditions! At my school they announce their names at graduation. It’s good. I mean, it’s only top athletes (D1-caliber) that get a lot of recognition, so it’s nice that everyone who was a NMF gets a little recognition whether they got the highest score or barely squeaked by over the cutoff.
Absolutely nothing, not even a mention of the 2 NMS at the senior recognition night. They were mainly interested in what schools the students got into.
@RedbirdDad, that’s a really nice practice. Our district has done nothing so far and we don’t expect much. We as a family sent emails to a few teachers, a former counselor, and a former principal, letting them know about the NMSF status and thanking them for their past support, which helped make the NM achievement possible. Even if the district continues to ignore the achievement, the people who should have been thanked were thanked.
One neat thing our school does is that there is a display in the main lobby/ hallway right outside the office (alongside the trophy cabinets) with senior portraits of all the NMFs/SFs for the duration of their senior year.
@SippinCoffee Our school does nothing. I actually had to call NM to ask if my daughter was a semifinalist and then go to the school and tell them we checked on it. At that point they were like, oh yeah we got that. PFFT. The only finalist in her public school system/ county and yet no acknowledgement. Thankfully, the newspaper found out and she was recognized there, but not a word at school. We will see if they say anything if she makes finalist. I’m guessing we won’t hear a word until we receive a letter in the mail from NM themselves.
It was lovely…announcements at school, given a plaque in front of school board and pictures with superintendent, honored at Senior Awards Ceremony, got to stand up at graduation. They did a nice job.
Suffice it to say, in our house we frequently rely on mumbling “well, it’s not football,” because that is how we sometimes feel about how little attention is paid to academic excellence v athletics in our district…
That’s not what should be motivating you, anyway. Just sayin’.
The kids’ school has a new principal who seems distinctly less interested in tooting their academic horn. The predecessor’s plethora of “look we’re awesome” plaques have disappeared. The excuse is that the school is undergoing renovation, but I’m willing to bet we’ll never see them again.
Lol, funny story time. My oldest brother hated all this jazz which goes along with NMF stuff since he thought it was all just “lousy crap which nobody should care about”. I honestly believe he would rather have not gotten NMF if it weren’t for the money. Anyways, my school has some announcement/picture thing and also calls them up on the the final assembly of the school year. Well when they called his name he got up and started walking out. When people told him to go to the stage he turned around and yelled “I NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM” and left the school. He had some explaining to do before the graduation ceremony…
I dont understand the people who are upset that they weren’t recognized. I mean, its just a standardized test? Of course it’s great to get the money, but its not exactly a good indicator of merit. Its a pretty good indicator of test taking ability, privileged educational opportunities, and socioeconomic status, though.
My kids’ school takes pictures which are out in a full-page ad in the paper which is then framed at school. School does similar for AP scholars, BTW.
The school board held a reception for all the semifinalists, national achievement, and commended students from the district. It was right before a board meeting, and the kids were then introduced at the meeting.
XCjunior2016, you assert that National Merit Semi-Finalist status is “not exactly a good indicator of merit.” That is ridiculous. NMSFs who progress to NMF status have achieved distinction. My daughter did not go to private schools–no privileged educational opportunity. She lives in a middle-class area with her mother who is a special ed teacher for autistic kids–not a privileged economic status. My daughter went on to get an SAT score of 2390. Her PSAT score was an indicator of MERIT!