One spunky hs student

[K'Nort]

Administrators withheld the diploma of Eagleville School valedictorian Abraham "Abe" Stoklasa after he read a graduation speech laced with sarcasm rather than be censored...."You have given us the minimum required attention and education that is needed to master any station at any McDonald's anywhere," states the first sentence in question..."

http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050524/NEWS01/505240310/1002

He got it eventually, of course.

I hope that if I were the principal or superintendent, I'd still laugh.

[sirgod]

I read that a few days ago. I gotta Give that kid Credit for having a pair. Even though He says he didn't mean to add in the original part of his speech.

then again, I love a dry wit.

Stephen

[Gaz]

I love the fact that they ignore the caveat he added immediately after the McD line and that he asked the teacher he teased if it was cool. So, context is irrelevant?

[Eliot Johnson]

Big ups to this guy.

I can honestly say I would have done something similar had I been valedictorian, but unfortunately senioritis got to me a bit and I ended up salutatorian.

[DarlingNikki]

he wasn't courageous to say what he said. the folks around him were merely cowards for not allowing him to say it.

[Justin Davis]

In the connected article focusing on the principal, (http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050525/NEWS01/505250315/1002)she tries to explain why he wanted to pull those sentence out. One thing Principal Holton does say that may strengthen her side of the argument is, "I guess it would be fine for Zanies comedy club, but graduation is not a roast." Cracking jokes is one thing, but cracking jokes by first insulting parts of the school usually aren't the most appropriate things to be in a valedictorian's speech. Of course, what the principal failed to realise (surprisingly, a lot fail to realise this kind of thing)is that she made the situation 10 times worse by first shutting the microphone off and then withholding the student's diploma. All that does is call not just immediate, but long-rangning attention where I doubt much would've been given to the speech outside of those that heard it. Any and all media attention and backlash falls squarely on the shoulders of the principal here. Also, it seems like the principal clearly either didn't read or understand the rest of the speech as she mentions how the school isn't bad and, "If you say we're a bad school, then prove we're bad. Our test scores don't reflect we're bad." Mentioning test scores is such a bad argument here mainly because it serves no real purpose other than to put up some false legitimacy to a stance. Having been around incredibly poor administrators the past two years, many words that Principal Rhonda Holton speaks sound very familar.

[Spike-X]

What a petty, small-minded, vindictive bitch. She needs to pull her head out of her arse and get a sense of humour.

[Matt]

Any educator that knows a damn thing about his or her field knows that test scores, specifically from standardised tests, mean pretty much absolutely nothing when it comes to diagnosing the skill/knowledge base that any student may possess.

The only real way to get a proper picture of any students knowledge is through authentic assessment tasks and only then by applying the proper context on an individual basis.

[Johnny Morningstar]

There's a higher than normal percentage that this particular high school class will remember their valedictorian speech by their 10-year reunion.

An English teacher, who was helping their valedictorian with a speech, recently asked me what would stick in the graduates' minds. My advice -- swear. A lot.

All high school graduation blah-blah-blahs focus on two themes -- 'be the best you can be' and 'seize the day' mixed with some nostalgia.

[K'Nort]

All high school graduation blah-blah-blahs focus on two themes -- 'be the best you can be' and 'seize the day' mixed with some nostalgia.

I do wonder how much of that is due to re-writes by the administration.