I've got one thing to say to Stevens Point School administrators...

[TheMightyFavog]

If' you're letting people like this be valedictorian, you really need to seriously reconsider your biology curricula, post haste.

http://www.wisinfo.com/journal/spjopinion/310562960907144.shtml

I am writing this in response to Mr. Charles C. Haynes' column "Debate is unintelligent over intelligent design" which was in the Stevens Point Journal on Aug. 23.

In Mr. Haynes's column, he wrote "That's why some textbooks still skim over evolution - and teachers in certain parts of the country look over their shoulders whenever they mention the "e" word. And we wonder why American high school students don't fare well in science when compared to their international peers."
I know these credentials might not sound like much to you, but I happen to be one of SPASH's 2005 valedictorians with a 1490 for my SAT score. I, however, agree with the intelligent designers and feel that evolution does not sufficiently explain the origins of life on this planet. The biggest reason, for me is just that, the origin of life. Evolutionists need to believe that life began from an inorganic mess being struck by lightning billions of years ago. To me, that sounds much more like science fiction than any idea the intelligent designers had.

Getting back to the main point of my letter, I wanted to write in as to what most scientists feel really helps children excel in learning. This, as most of you know, is parental involvement. Many studies have shown that children who share at least three meals a week as a family do better in school than those who don't. Children whose parents read to them when they are younger develop academic skills more quickly than those who don't. Children who have a loving, caring mother and father to whom they can tell their problems do better in all areas of life than those who don't have this luxury. If you really want to know why Americans are falling behind in schooling compared to the rest of the world, it is because they are falling behind in family.

Andrew Timm
Plover

EDIT: I didn't know univerities still used the SATs. I thought pretty well much every post secondary institution was using the ACTs.

[ret5hd]

1. i didn't know evolution had ANYTHING to say about the ORIGIN...

of life...just how life developed after there WAS life.

[fishnfla]

2. Here's a bolt of lightning for you, Andy

Having parents is a biological fact of life too. Ider's need not apply.

Luxury, *sheez*

Good luck in school, better luck in life.

[Orrex]

3. Hardly unusual, and nothing new

My high school's valedictorian (1989) believed in the literal inerrancy of the bible, believed that Noah's Ark was real, and believed that scientists are still using Piltdown man as proof of evolution.

He wasn't particularly smart, but he knew how to study and was dedicated to his schoolwork. He got a 15-something on his SATs, and he was also a major homophobe and all-around jackass.

As long as valedictorians are determined by academic performance rather than scientific literacy, we'll continue to see ignorant children singing their own praises and condemning anything that they don't understand.

[rkc3]

4. Did you hear Robert Reich on Marketplace last night?

He was talking about the changes in the education system where students are taught to take standardized tests instead of critical thinking.

The last major reform in education occurred because business wanted new employees to read, write, and think critically. Now that all jobs can be outsourced to China or India (or wherever), there's a ready pool of talent worldwide - as a result our children suffer in school and in the new world markets.

www.marketplace.org

[Orrex]

5. I missed him, but I loved the piece on AOL

Terminating AOL service is like trying to buy your soul back from the devil. Or at least, it was until this ruling. Of course, they admit no wrong-doing, but they agreed to pay a $1.5M fine. No wrong-doing whatsoever, nosiree!

But Reich, who is excellent, is correct about the lack of training in critical thought. Sadly, this isn't new in my experience, either; my first exposure to formal critical thought came in my second year of college. Until that time everything was rote memorization and simplistic interpretation, with nothing that might endanger the status quo.

If I'd had no courses other than those in Critical Thinking, I'd still consider my college education worthwhile.

[sybylla]

6. Same here

The Val. of my son's graduating class last year was a fundie nutjob. Sometimes it's not what you know but how screwed up the means for choosing a Val/Sal are.

There were much brighter and much more hard working students in the school who deserved that rank but the criteria were and still are hosed at this school.

[TheMightyFavog]

7. Lemme guess...

The number of extracurriculars the student was in was factored into the decision process.

As if that should matter...

[sybylla]

8. No, actually is was total grade points

But grade points don't take into consideration any AP courses. The students who busted their backsides in AP courses were essentially excluded from the running. And there was absolutely no consideration for extra curriculars.

The kids loading up their schedule with home ec (or FACE as it's called now),computer (trust me, they don't teach anything to difficult here) and ag classes and majoring in schmooze were the ones to get 4.0s

[TheMightyFavog]

10. I remeber my high school did factor in extrecurriculars.

I always wondered why they did that.

[Jimbo S]

11. First time I have heard of this

Is society passing me by?

Why would E-C be included in a GPA?

[sybylla]

12. Not GPA

only in consideration for Valedictorian. Especially in large schools where the competition is heavy for the top one or two spots. The large high school I graduated from over 20 years ago used grade points, GPA, athletics, extra-curriculars, volunteer service, etc.

[Jimbo S]

13. I graduated from high school in 1984

and it was strictly GPA.

Learn something new everyday.

[TheMightyFavog]

14. Not necessarily large schools either.

My school was D III, my graduating class had about 75 people in in it.

[RevCheesehead]

9. Aw, c'mon - he's just good at memorization.

He can regurgitate information. Doesn't make him smart. :evilgrin: