rawlinson – us

WV State Scholars – I’m In

West Virginia, it seems, has had some fairly low academic standards set for high school graduates in the past. However, there is an initiative here now that aims to get kids to take more rigorous coursework in highschool than they might typically. It is the State Scholars Initiative. There are many parts to the initiative and I am involved in one of them – speaking to 8/9th graders as a successful person and trying to explain to them why they should take harder classes. It should prove interesting.

I often bemoan, at least to myself, the contempt we American’s seem to have towards being well educated. It’s a long tradition of mockery back when kids were called “Brains” or “Spaz” upto our more modern “Nerds” and “Geeks”. It has never been particularly cool to be smart; or at least for others to know you are. It is as if ,at a young age, we just embrace ignorance as a positive personality trait. I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand it but, in my opinion, it is one of the greatest threats facing our country.

Thus, when presented with the chance to talk to some kids and try to convince them that it is OK, no, its better than OK, it’s good to take harder classes I didn’t hesitate. I don’t know if I’ll be a very good ambassador for the project but if I can convince just one kid to take the “professional” track in high school I figure my effort won’t be wasted.

I have the option of speaking at pretty much any school in Cabell county but I am going to pick Enslow Middle School because it is in my neighborhood and I’ve always heard such bad things about the atmosphere there. I can’t believe it is as bad as it has been described and I have to think there are at least a few kids there who are hiding their intelligence and willingly holding themselves back for fear of social ostracization. You don’t have to be a smart ass to be smart and thus other kids don’t have to know that you are doing better than them in school. Instead a kid can just quietly excel and set themselves up for far greater success later in life. If they are lucky maybe they’ll drag a friend along for the ride and two kids will find a better future.

I realize I’m making a small contribution that may have little to no effect on any kid in the classes I speak to. But at least it is something and I’m not just sitting around bemoaning the poor academics of the state or the country. My kids are lucky to have parents who understand the importance of a good education; all I’m hoping to do is let another kid in on the secret. It isn’t as if the courses in high school are all that hard – it’s that many don’t see why it is important to take them and convince themselves it doesn’t matter because “they couldn’t do it anyway.” Which, of course, is bullshit. Unless you have a real learning disability that prevents you from comprehending the material you can do it; sure it might take more effort for some, but no class in high school is so hard a normal kid couldn’t pass them.

I’m also excited about this initiative because it is something being done at the state level. Initially the program was a federal one but they had even lower expectations than the states version has. I’m pretty happy to be able to support a more local “grass-roots” program that aims to improve the capabilities of the future adults in West Virginia.