As principal in the US, one of my most aggravating pet peeve, was dealing with the parents who made an outlandishly big deal out of the promotions of kindergarteners and 6th graders. You see, we had a program for both, and they insisted on wanting to call this, and see it as, a "graduation."
This bothered me so much because there was a finality to it. There was the "we're done, let's move to whatever life has in store" mentality. For too many of the parents and guardians, marching across the stage in 6th grade was it. They didn't experience their high school graduation because, for whatever reason, they dropped out.
I wanted to be crystal clear to my students that these milestones were to be seen as stepping stones to continue on to the next level. I didn't want them to wipe their brows and see this as the end.
At my last school, where on any given week, one third to one half of the students were absent, this was especially senseless to me. This was particularly egregious because the school was across the street from the housing project where all the students lived. And yet, at these promotion ceremonies, they all crawled out of the woodwork and showed up for the party.
CRAZY!
Interestingly, the poorer the school, the crazier this time was.
There were limousines, formals, tuxedos, and what can only be described as "hooker" outfits. We realized a dress code would need to be in place, letting the families know that we expected the students to be in clothes they might wear to church.
Good Lord, then I wanted to know what kind of church they went to!
Believe me when I say, even that didn't help.
Seriously, some of those little 11 and 12 year old girls look like they were ready for stripper poles. As I looked out at these kids,
KIDS . . .
I shook my head knowing that someone in their world - their mommas, grandmas, etc. - thought this kind of dress was appropriate.
I think I can speak for most educators and say we're all thrilled to see a school year come to an end, but dealing with this craziness was something I never looked forward to.
One of my dear friends (thanks Tiff) forwarded this really quick clip of one of the promotion ceremonies where I'm speaking before the class is introduced. (Please excuse the video quality, but the audio is what's important).
Can you hear my frustration?
There are some things I don't miss.
This is end-of-year madness is high on the list.
This bothered me so much because there was a finality to it. There was the "we're done, let's move to whatever life has in store" mentality. For too many of the parents and guardians, marching across the stage in 6th grade was it. They didn't experience their high school graduation because, for whatever reason, they dropped out.
I wanted to be crystal clear to my students that these milestones were to be seen as stepping stones to continue on to the next level. I didn't want them to wipe their brows and see this as the end.
At my last school, where on any given week, one third to one half of the students were absent, this was especially senseless to me. This was particularly egregious because the school was across the street from the housing project where all the students lived. And yet, at these promotion ceremonies, they all crawled out of the woodwork and showed up for the party.
CRAZY!
Interestingly, the poorer the school, the crazier this time was.
There were limousines, formals, tuxedos, and what can only be described as "hooker" outfits. We realized a dress code would need to be in place, letting the families know that we expected the students to be in clothes they might wear to church.
Good Lord, then I wanted to know what kind of church they went to!
Believe me when I say, even that didn't help.
Seriously, some of those little 11 and 12 year old girls look like they were ready for stripper poles. As I looked out at these kids,
KIDS . . .
I shook my head knowing that someone in their world - their mommas, grandmas, etc. - thought this kind of dress was appropriate.
I think I can speak for most educators and say we're all thrilled to see a school year come to an end, but dealing with this craziness was something I never looked forward to.
One of my dear friends (thanks Tiff) forwarded this really quick clip of one of the promotion ceremonies where I'm speaking before the class is introduced. (Please excuse the video quality, but the audio is what's important).
Can you hear my frustration?
There are some things I don't miss.
This is end-of-year madness is high on the list.
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