Posted on 05/08/2005 6:47:15 PM PDT by Born Conservative
BOW, N.H. - A decision to take Advanced Placement biology instead of gym will cost a Bow High School senior her diploma, but it won't keep her from going to college in the fall.
Though Isabel Gottlieb is a good student, a trumpet player in the school band and holds varsity letters in three sports, she discovered last fall she was one gym class shy of having enough credits to graduate next month.
She asked for a waiver, but the school wouldn't budge, telling her instead she had to drop a class to take gym.
"Why would I drop an AP biology class to take P.E.?" the 18-year-old said. "It's just not on my priority list."
The missing credit wasn't caught by the school last spring when Gottlieb's schedule was set. The class in question is called BEST, or Building Essential Skills for Tomorrow, and is required for all Bow students to graduate.
At the Seattle high school Gottlieb attended before moving to Bow before her junior year, gym requirements often were waived for students in varsity sports. But those waivers aren't something Bow High School is willing to accept.
"Waivers vary from school to school and they're not standardized at all," said Principal George Edwards.
Gottlieb added the class last year after the school told her she had to take it, but then dropped it when she found out it was too much on top of classes she was already taking, including two Advanced Placement classes and calculus.
Both Gottlieb and her mother said the school suggested dropping either band, chorus, AP biology or calculus. But she and her mother decided sacrificing any of those would have diminished the quality of Gottlieb's education.
"I'm trying to get into college and someone isn't going to want to see someone drop an AP biology class a month into the year in order to pick up P.E.," Gottlieb said.
There will likely be no compromises in time for graduation. The class is not offered in the summer.
And it may not matter. Gottlieb already has been accepted to Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., where she plans to major in biology.
Trinity is aware of Gottlieb's situation and said that as long as she gets her General Educational Development, or GED, in time, there won't be a problem.
Gottlieb said that she already has taken the practice test and, once she hears back on that, will schedule a time to take the official version of the high school equivalency test.
Meanwhile, her mother, Ashley Warner, is planning a "non-graduation" party for her daughter.
"We realized that not graduating wasn't the end of the world," Warner said. "But it took a long time to come to that conclusion."
There's no rule about actually educating anybody, but it's good enough for union work.
This is another example of why we have to get the government out of the school system.
I would wager she didn't take it because she was hoping the extra honors class, and the related grade bonus, would help her GPA.
oh please, drop chorus. more whining.
If you are interested in your school system you must examine the state school board association you board belongs to. Then examine the National School Board Association.
The national association is compromised by a liberal agenda. I imagine you will find that your state board association is compromised as well.
You can find either board by doing a Yahoo or Google search.
gym is a worthless class
The schools have graduation requirements, and they are well known to every entering freshman.
That said, I find this amusing because I was also short gym credits and was told I wouldn't graduate. Their solution? Put me in three consecutive hours of volleyball until I had enough credit.
Of course, that was 1976. Different times.
public school is an oxymornon
She's in for a surprise someday when she tells her boss... "why would I do that project? It just isn't on my priority list". The simple answer is you take what you're suppose to so you get the degree. But I'm sure she knows better than everybody else.
She's on 3 varsity teams and needs P.E.? What for? To please the rule happy bureaucrats like you...?
This young lady sounds rather accomplished, so I doubt a class called " Building Essential Skills for Tomorrow" is really something she needs.
However, it is worth noting that, if she were instead functionally illiterate from years of classes that made self-esteem a higher priority than being educated, the school would likely have set aside any standard to give her a meaningless diploma.
Dumb absolute rules drawn up by absolute dumb@sses = public school boards.
:I would wager she didn't take it because she was hoping the extra honors class, and the related grade bonus, would help her GPA."
Taking an AP course in HS means you don't have to take the equivalent course in college. Nothing to do with GPA.
From my perspective, people like this often start their own companies and hire/fire people who lack initiative but are good at taking orders....
But all of life is about dumb rules drawn up by somebody else. Learning that at 17 is better than learning it at 45. Her mom didn't do her any favors. You do what you're suppose to do to "make the grade". Learning that is more valuable than AP Biology.
There is little hope of sanity in the public school system.
I had this problem in Washington state. I was taking all of my classes at the local community college (getting high school and college class). I didn't really have time to fit gym in to my full school and work schedule. Luckily, I have weak lungs and my doctor wrote me a note saying I had sports asthmas (true) and that was the end of that. I was thin and in-shape, so I wasn't that concerned about my weight.
Yep... often they do. Often that company is a "landscaping company". Often it's a plumber. Or any sort of self-employed company because they can't work for people. But you're right now and then they actually start a legit company. And often they go bankrupt. That's life. Just because a person thinks they know more than everybody else, doesn't mean they'll be a sucess at life.
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