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Post by wordfish on Jun 15, 2019 22:11:48 GMT
I agree. I also think she took a day that should have been 'for everyone' (the other graduates) and made it about her self. Her actions didn't just effect her + those she wanted to rip. Instead of focusing on the achievements of the class, no one is talking about that. Its all about her. I've been thinking about this. She flamed her counselors publicly. How many times have we heard Counselor Peas state they are over worked, not enough staff, to do their job? We've gotten one side of the story with this. I am sure the Pea Counselors wouldn't want publicly ripped. There is a time a place for things like this. This wasn't the time or place. What is the right time and place? Sincere question, no snark. I listened to the speech and she clearly indicated that the guidance counselor blew off not just her but also her parents. There is no reason for me to not give a high school valedictorian, though she be by definition a teenager, the benefit of the doubt that she was speaking her truth, which included that surprising measure of disrespect to her parents. If I had to carry my carcass to the dreaded high school to advocate for my child, which happened so few times over three children that I can count them all on one hand, I would have been mightily displeased to be blown off.
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Post by mom on Jun 15, 2019 23:19:11 GMT
I agree. I also think she took a day that should have been 'for everyone' (the other graduates) and made it about her self. Her actions didn't just effect her + those she wanted to rip. Instead of focusing on the achievements of the class, no one is talking about that. Its all about her. I've been thinking about this. She flamed her counselors publicly. How many times have we heard Counselor Peas state they are over worked, not enough staff, to do their job? We've gotten one side of the story with this. I am sure the Pea Counselors wouldn't want publicly ripped. There is a time a place for things like this. This wasn't the time or place. What is the right time and place? Sincere question, no snark. You start at the bottom the chain of command and work up. Principal didn't do anything? Ok, move up the line to School Board. School Board is no help? File a complaint with the licensing board (specifically referring to the drunk teacher). I will concede the drunk teacher is more of a concern that her complaining her counselor didn't go out of her way to help her. In 'real iife' she isn't going to get very far if she publicly blasts everyone who doesn't either do their job or do it to her satisfaction.
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Post by 950nancy on Jun 15, 2019 23:44:21 GMT
What is the right time and place? Sincere question, no snark. You start at the bottom the chain of command and work up. Principal didn't do anything? Ok, move up the line to School Board. School Board is no help? File a complaint with the licensing board (specifically referring to the drunk teacher). I will concede the drunk teacher is more of a concern that her complaining her counselor didn't go out of her way to help her. In 'real iife' she isn't going to get very far if she publicly blasts everyone who doesn't either do their job or do it to her satisfaction. I would like to know the history of the whole thing too, but a counselor of a valedictorian can be that student's biggest asset. It sounded like her counselor didn't do her job and not just go out of her way. Counselors to seniors have a very important job of getting students the right information about colleges (since it can change from year to year), getting help for scholarships (this is where I think the ball was dropped IMO), and writing letters of recommendation. My son relied on his counselor for all of these things. If the counselor this student is complaining about didn't show up for meetings with her mom and dad, I can see why she was so frustrated. It wasn't just meetings, but it was probably money and scholarships this young lady felt she lost because of the counselor.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jun 15, 2019 23:45:27 GMT
I finally got a chance to actually listen to the speech in its entirety, and was surprised it wasn't worse TBH. First off, having read the comments I think we need to be very careful to not project typical school/teenage angst on a situation that might be quite a bit different than our own experience. My kids have experienced the typical frustration of a teacher with inconsistent grading or an unfortunate, unexpected, long term substitute for a high level class that they're unequipped to handle. If my child called out individuals in that context, I'd be appalled - it would show a glaring immaturity.
However, I wasn't lucky enough to go your typical high school. The level of incompetence in teachers and administrators was truly extraordinary. We risked not receiving our high school diplomas when the district was shut down a month before graduation. The state had to take over - you can't imagine the stress of how to deal with having college acceptances in hand and what would happen if you didn't receive a high school diploma. Teachers who would throw books at students, teachers who refused to teach. And yes the issues with scholarship resonated with me as my college counselor REFUSED to give me an application for a particular scholarship. She thought others were more entitled to it than me. My mother had to actually go to the school and insist I receive the application - it's unfathomable even now to imagine what in the world she was thinking. Incidentally, I did receive that scholarship as those actually handing out money thought I was more than qualified.
So apologies for the novel, but yes there are school that are just that bad - and it appears this school is unfortunately one of them. If you've never experienced it, it's hard to fathom so many adults can actually be so at odds of their mission to educate children - if you've experienced it - you know it's not always about bratty teenagers.
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Post by pierkiss on Jun 16, 2019 1:49:44 GMT
What is the right time and place? Sincere question, no snark. You start at the bottom the chain of command and work up. Principal didn't do anything? Ok, move up the line to School Board. School Board is no help? File a complaint with the licensing board (specifically referring to the drunk teacher). I will concede the drunk teacher is more of a concern that her complaining her counselor didn't go out of her way to help her. In 'real iife' she isn't going to get very far if she publicly blasts everyone who doesn't either do their job or do it to her satisfaction. We don’t know that she didn’t try and go through the standard hierarchy to affect changes. Also, public blasting often results in actual changes. How many times have we seen here where someone comes alon and complains that a company did nothing about a problem? That the person emailed repeatedly with no or little response. The person then called and tried to work up the chain that way getting no mwhere. The peas will often say “call them out on Twitter”. The pea does and then Bam! Problem is handled at an acceptable level to the customer. Maybe high schools with serious problems should be called out publically if they are not going to actually handle serious concerns. And honestly, I seriously doubt anyone’s graduation was ruined by the valedictorians speech during the ceremony. Well, maybe the faculty she was referring to.
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tracylynn
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,899
Jun 26, 2014 22:49:09 GMT
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Post by tracylynn on Jun 16, 2019 2:45:45 GMT
She could have written a letter to the School Board, Superintendent and Principal expressing those concerns. Of course, if she was looking to get her 15 minutes of fame, I guess she succeeded. I might have missed something, but how do we know she didn't? How do we know that complaints had been lodged and nothing was done? I'm not going to judge her. I hope that if the allegations are true, the school takes the time to reflect, make changes and do better for the next set of Seniors coming up. We had a teacher that dated students. It was well known. Not a secret. He continued to teach.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 9:30:55 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2019 15:06:11 GMT
Does high admin now point out scholarships to students. When I was in high school I had to do that myself.
My children had to find and apply for scholarships.
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kibblesandbits
Pearl Clutcher
At the corner of Awesome and Bombdiggity
Posts: 3,305
Aug 13, 2016 13:47:39 GMT
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Post by kibblesandbits on Jun 16, 2019 15:24:23 GMT
My son was Valedictorian at his highly rated high school the year after the past Valedictorian went off the track and into "scolding the school" territory. That was an interesting speech, especially coming from a student who's parents both were teachers at the school. The next year, my son was Valedictorian and for the first time was required to turn in his speech and was threatened with the mic shut off if he strayed. Put some undue stress on an already stressful situation (speech in front of 750 grads and all their families - 4,000 est. total people) He was an early graduate - only 16. There has to be a happy medium between the useless twaddle that is considered acceptable and something valuable and enlightening being said. I can't imagine this student made this speech without any input from peers, parents, etc. Perhaps this was a story that needed to be told? From the sounds of the district troubles, I believe it might be. I wish people would give kids more of a break. When did we transition from "out of the mouths of babes" to "spoiled snowflakes"?
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iowgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,274
Jun 25, 2014 22:52:46 GMT
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Post by iowgirl on Jun 16, 2019 15:39:17 GMT
School counselors have a tough role. Most schools don't have nearly enough to meet the needs of their student body. They do have a tough role, and each school will differ. My kids school was a small rural school. The counselor also is a teacher, coach, and athletic director. My kids were all very different in what they did in school and how they went about it. But watching how things were handled during the years they were there, there was absolute favoritism. Kids he 'liked' and were good athletes got preferential treatment. I'm saying this from a standpoint of a couple of my kids defiantly getting treated better than many, and one kid getting totally shit upon by him. That one kid of mine, if given a chance, would have given that same speech the valedictorian did, and I would have stood up and cheered. His counselor told him he wasn't college bound material, and he would 'just get by' in life. I just opened up that kids' diploma for his bachelors degree. Said kid has a job right out of college (had the job locked up before his Senior year started). .. So I would love to stand up and give that counselor a big FU speech and I wonder how many kids lives he has torpedoed in the years he has been there. And he is a less than mediocre coach. I’d almost prefer to hear someone call out wrongs then the usual vapid nonsense these speeches typically consist of. I agree. I think there might have been a little bit better way to do it, but it's not always sunshine and roses. There are some awesome teachers, counselors, coaches, and administrators. There are also a lot who are absolute shit, but will never lose their job. They can come to work and put in the time, but put in no real effort.
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Post by gracieplusthree on Jun 16, 2019 15:45:10 GMT
Maybe the wrong time and place, but we don't know all the story, maybe she was tired of being failed by those around her who were supposed to help,maybe she had tried and tried to get this help, asked and asked, maybe multiple letters were written to higher ups. but, also maybe this was the wrong time and place, BUT, maybe its opened the eyes of some and will cause some beneficial change, obviously this student was able to thrive(though perhaps could have soared higher with proper aid) ,but what about others who weren't given assistance they needed and therefor floundered.
I too had a alcoholic teacher, thankfully it was a music/choir class and attached homeroom period and not a class requiring more focus and work on our part as students but we'd walk into class with him passed out at his desk. He'd awaken just enough to tell us to study quietly at our seat and be out again for the rest of the class,which was about 90mins total with the homeroom. Students would sneak out of the class to go get stuff from their car or the vending machines or restrooms,he never knew. We did sporatically actually have class,but.. needless to say it was lacking, and the day before a big exam? he'd go over the exam word for word and give us the answers have us write them down. why I dont know, we were allowed to ask our neighbor or even him for help during the tests if we needed too(which he'd give the answer, no joke). one of our exams was over the We Are The World video, and in this exam we had to list various performers of the song, fill in missing parts of lyrics etc. He was the bad director, and also the one who painted the lines on the football field too, and so if that was needed done, we'd go hang out at the field during class instead of being in class..again we rarely had actual class lol.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 9:30:55 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2019 15:48:04 GMT
I would hire her.
I have had to go up the chain many times in our school district in the last 18 years. Many times it shouldn’t get to the point where I am calling the Super on his cell phone, but it does. I have seen a lot of back pedaling and stammering in my district.
Lots of bad teachers - inappropriate comments, drug/alcohol use, not giving af.
Many ineffective guidance counselors - one year the junior class at one of our high schools nearly missed the opportunity to take the PSATs. They -the staff-just “forgot about it”
Principal stealing funds from student booster clubs.
Asst superintendent watching porn on his work computer.
Bus drivers exhibiting abusive and bullying behavior to disabled students.
So good for her for speaking up. She’s the consumer and received sub par service. She should talk about her experience.
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Post by papersilly on Jun 16, 2019 16:54:29 GMT
Slash and burn. She certainly went out guns blazing.
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Post by myshelly on Jun 16, 2019 17:17:04 GMT
What is the right time and place? Sincere question, no snark. You start at the bottom the chain of command and work up. Principal didn't do anything? Ok, move up the line to School Board. School Board is no help? File a complaint with the licensing board (specifically referring to the drunk teacher). I will concede the drunk teacher is more of a concern that her complaining her counselor didn't go out of her way to help her. In 'real iife' she isn't going to get very far if she publicly blasts everyone who doesn't either do their job or do it to her satisfaction. I completely disagree. In real life you take a complaint to social media and get faster results than other channels 🤷🏻♀️
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Post by scrapmaven on Jun 16, 2019 17:45:24 GMT
Well, it certainly made graduation less boring. Time and place, dear. Time and place.
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Post by bc2ca on Jun 16, 2019 18:00:04 GMT
What is the right time and place? Sincere question, no snark. You start at the bottom the chain of command and work up. Principal didn't do anything? Ok, move up the line to School Board. School Board is no help? File a complaint with the licensing board (specifically referring to the drunk teacher). I will concede the drunk teacher is more of a concern that her complaining her counselor didn't go out of her way to help her. In 'real iife' she isn't going to get very far if she publicly blasts everyone who doesn't either do their job or do it to her satisfaction. And what if you did all that, and just got stonewalled? Her complaint wasn't about her counselor not going "out of her way" to help, but about not doing her basic job and blowing off appointments with her and her parents. When you get to graduation, do you just decide I'm through, so I don't care anymore about making changes/improving things for the next class? Or was it so bad, you speak for your classmates? The School Board in this district is deeply mired in corruption scandals. The new board brought in to replace the previous corrupt one is facing audit & SEC investigations already. Corrupt to the point of felony charges and the convicted former Superintendent now serving time. For those commenting about how the mic would have been cut off at their school, the comments I've seen have said whoever was in charge of the mic wanted her message heard.
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Post by shamrockpea on Jun 17, 2019 1:39:29 GMT
love the MLK quote.
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