What is going on?
I really think we need remember what our school is about. I personally do not care what other schools do. However I have no interest in reinventing something that does not need fixing. On the other hand after our bout this afternoon I did some research. Many schools have moved away from naming a Valedictorian. Actually it could be quite costly to make a mistake in the process. Whomever wants to speak, Montessorian, Valedictorian, Lori Mayo should be able to make a speech. It is ultimately more important to remember it is not our day. I actually think our students will know by their senior year what we as educators value. These students will be ready on that day. Think of the parents, the students and the celebration of our final product going out to change the world.
I do think it would be nice to have someone who exemplifies the School Wide Values speak at graduation, but it isn't my graduation. Is Maria Montesssori available?
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Valedictorian????
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I guess I'm more concerned with extremes. In other words, I'd hate to keep saying we're not about academics in order to justify not having a valedictorian. We're a school-- we are about academics. We all agree about the importance of socialization, citizenship, etc. If we maintain that we have a "rigorous" curriculum (btw, "rigor" has a lot of negative connotations), and one of our ISA principles is college prep, we should be stressing academic success as much as anything else. And I think we are. I just don't like the way this feels sometimes-- if we do away with every traditional aspect of school (AP classes, valedictorians, physics, etc.), we also lose sight of our goal of a heterogenous school. Yes, students who want those things have the option of going to other schools. BUT...where does that leave us?
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