Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board:
Thank you.
Thank you for addressing a policy that robbed reward, and for restoring motivation to excel. We are hopeful the trend continues when addressing school and county policies so more students enrolled in Ohio County Schools will strive to achieve together, yes, but also as individuals because that’s how it is in this big, mean world of ours.
That’s because not everyone is the same. Some people are the best at “this” while others are the best at “that”, and they all set examples for others to follow and learn from while pushing their own improvement. We’ve learned over the past several decades that students learn at different paces and adopting individual education plans for each pupil is not only prudent but practical.
Some students work extremely hard to earn their honor cords, and they want to display their success. That’s human nature, and it’s NOT a bad thing, but we must wonder how many children do NOT put in the extra effort because the proverbial carrot has been taken away from in front of their proverbial noses?
One is too many, though. Right?
Under normal circumstances, there comes a time in life when participation trophies are unnecessary and unhealthy because, in this big, mean world of ours, people compete, and there’s winning and there’s losing. That’s reality, and along with the academic basics taught during those high school years, they should be prepared for success, and for failure, too.
Once again, thank you, and we do hope you see it through to adoption.
Sincerely,
Winners & Losers
