Please keep this thread public! =20
In our middle school we do give awards out at year's end - not in a public=
ceremony for all to attend, but students and teachers together as grade le=
vel teams (6, 7 and 8). This started in a very traditional way, I understa=
nd, with the top students in each discipline being honored. As you can ima=
gine, over the years many questions have been raised about whether this rec=
ognizes students in an appropriate way. So here is our compromise, for our=
sixth to eighth grade students:
1 Each teacher (all disciplines including PE and athletics) gives out award=
s - generally one to a top achieving student, and one or maybe several to o=
thers that stand out through effort or improvement over the year
2. In the same assembly, students give a one minute presentation of another=
student in their grade - sometimes funny, sometimes quite moving, but done=
so that everyone in the room feels they have been recognized.
3. Each team of teachers meets before making their choice, so that no one s=
tudent gets the lions' share of awards. There is no strict guideline for t=
he number of awards a student may earn, but we try and spread the wealth a=
s much as possible
4. We do have a valedictorian for the 8th grade class - something that has=
been a tradition. This student makes the speech to the whole community at=
our moving on ceremony as they leave middle school=20
Now - having said all this, there are very different views among faculty ab=
out how well this all works. We will discuss this again this year and some=
would like to ditch the whole awards thing, others feel uncomfortable with=
the valedictorian award.=20
I would love to hear what other schools do - particularly the idea of havin=
g a valedictorian in middle school...
Peter Thomas
8th Grade Science Teacher
Hawken School
5000 Clubside Road
Lyndhurst
Ohio 44124
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators [mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.=
EDU] On Behalf Of Ari Yares
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 11:57 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Awards for Middle School Students
We have been re-thinking our philospophy regarding awards at graduation (K-=
8 school). Currently, we have several awards that are for 8th graders and o=
thers that honor students in grades 5-8. These awards range from academic a=
chievement in a specific academic discipline (e.g. science) to being a ment=
sch.
For other K-8 schools:
1.) Do you give out awards to 8th graders or to other grades?
2.) Are awards given out at 8th grade graduation or at another ceremony?
Thank you,
Ari
--
Ari S. Yares, Ph.D.
Head of Middle School
Krieger Schechter Day School
ayares@soink12.ksds.edu
410/824-2053
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