The honor roll certificates for the third quarter of the school year were distributed last Monday. Plus, the students received leis to celebrate their accomplishment. (The leis had fabric flowers, so the school could afford to buy them in bulk.)
Students who earned a GPA of 3.0-3.5 got a red lei. GPAs of 3.5-4.0 got a yellow lei. And those students who earned a GPA above 4.0 got a multicolored lei.
4th period. Honors integrated math 3. This is the math class directly before math analysis in the sequence (also known as precalculus). And the honors students are likely going to complete the sequence.
As they walked in, I noted that most of them sported multicolored leis. Not surprising, really. These are the overachievers.
I overheard a conversation they had. One girl hadn't gotten her lei until 3rd period. So, when her friends got theirs in 2nd, they ribbed her for it. How come she wasn't getting a lei? Was she hiding her red lei?
I pointed out that getting a red lei was also an accomplishment. There were plenty of kiddos who didn't get a lei at all.
She didn't see it that way. (And she knew what her GPA was as report cards went out a couple weeks ago.) Nor did the kiddos in her social circle.
Grade snobbery is alive and well. I rarely get to see it, but it's there.
I barely squeaked by with a 3.0 so I would've been happy with red.
ReplyDeleteHow do you get higher than a perfect 4.0?
I like the concept of rewarding those with good grades, but I wonder if it would be better with one size fits all so to speak and make the leis all the same color. I can see it an achievement for someone who works really hard to get the red lei where someone who doesn't have to crack a book and gets the blue lei that it could cause a bit of jealousy. My kids would have been lucky to get the red leis :)
ReplyDeletebetty
Interesting. My school's snobbery was all about money and clothing labels or I might have been halfway popular, at least. Huh... Who knows?
ReplyDeleteThat snobbery is only in the classes they take where they all congregate. I expect in areas where there are fewer high achievers, it's different.
DeleteMy high school never did anything like that. When you graduated, you would receive "honor cords" for achievements in various areas (honor societies and the like) but when you made honor roll at the end of a quarter, your name would be in the paper. Sometimes, they would even spell your name correctly.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised by it, but it's too bad her classmates were giving her a hard time over it.
That kind of snobbery sucks. The lei idea, while cute and a way for them to feel proud of their achievement, should be reconsidered by the school. It gives students who get them an excuse to look down their noses at the ones who don't, and then if you don't get one, you feel awful seeing all of those leis. Plus, you can be bullied for not having one.
ReplyDeleteThe school is trying to get more of a culture of achievement. At the moment, those who don't get leis don't actually care.
DeleteTell her to go hang out with the kids in pre-Algebra. She might feel better. (Woo-hoo! I would've had a yellow leid.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I feel about the lei idea. Does it really encourage students to get better grades?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it does. Those that didn't get one didn't seem to care.
DeleteI would be in the no lei dept. and bullying is always alive and well no matter what. We would love to think we are above this nowadays but we are not. This might be considered teasing but it is bullying in my book.
ReplyDeleteIt's more teasing in this case as the girl knew she had a high enough GPA. But yeah, it could turn to bullying so easily.
DeleteGrade snobbery! Oh boy....
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the AP kids can be very driven.
DeleteI guess it's better than the days when the smart kids were teased for good grades.
ReplyDeleteHeather Erickson Author Writer Speaker
Depends on the group. Most of the smart kids tend to insulate themselves into groups of the driven. Those that don't work tend to do the same.
DeleteI went to a small town high school, so I had more of the people making fun of the straight-A students, like myself. We had so few who signed up for advanced math my senior year that they canceled the class, but at least I got an extra elective :)
ReplyDeleteThat would have pissed me off. I hope it was a fun elective.
DeleteIt would be wonderful to have a student who was a high achiever!
ReplyDeleteThey're there. I don't often write about them as they don't usually provide an interesting enough incident to write about.
DeleteWe don't have an honour roll system in Australia, but that still doesn't stop the kids from working things out!
ReplyDeleteKids notice from an early age. Mind you I don't think a bit of competition hurts them.
ReplyDeleteFor grades? Nah, I don't think so either. Unless the teacher is grading on a curve. Then it becomes every student for themselves.
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