Post by gatordog on May 18, 2011 11:54:35 GMT -5
Editorial from Trib
How not to ditch
May 14, 2011
The principal of Naperville Central High School smelled a rat. Or maybe he read about it on Facebook. The senior class was plotting a ditch day on April 29.
So principal Bill Wiesbrook put out the word: Oh, no you don't. He met with the entire class in advance. He emailed their parents. He robo-called their homes. Not because he can't abide a senior ditch day, but because he can't abide two.
To a principal's studied eye, it was easy to spot. Seniors already were excused on April 27 and 28 — a Wednesday and a Thursday — while underclassmen suffered through the Prairie State Achievement Exam.
RU thinkN w@ I'm thinkN?
Sure enough, 70 percent of the class was felled by senioritis on Friday, April 29. Most of them were excused because their parents called in for them.
This happened despite the fact that at Naperville Central, senior ditch day is observed on the Monday after prom, or May 9 this year. So the kids were double-dipping, with an assist from Mom and Dad. After word got out that the principal was not pleased — "@#*@#!" was how he put it in an email to teachers — most of the seniors figured they'd better show up on May 9 after all. And they did.
So Wiesbrook gets our vote for principal of the year. But that's not what this editorial is about.
What the @#*@#! has happened to senior ditch day?
You know something has gone awry when a hooky holiday is built right into the school calendar, like Presidents Day or a teacher training workshop. It turns out this is the norm all over America, not just at Naperville Central.
And since when do parents call in and report that the truants were sick? Come on, young people. It's not really a ditch day if Mom and Dad have your back.
Senior ditch day has been around since Fred Flintstone was in high school. Here's how it's supposed to work: With their diplomas almost in the bag and a lifetime of adult burdens just ahead, the seniors take a powder for the day. They're off to Wrigley Field together, or maybe The Dells, thumbing their noses at the consequences.
Reveling in the memory at their 20-year reunion, the conspirators chortle at the image of humorless Mr. Flotsambottom, geometry quiz in hand, facing all those rows of empty desks. Even better, the entire class got a zero on that quiz and graduated anyway. Youth triumphs over authority on its way to world dominance! Mom and Dad had nothing to do with it.
Today's seniors, sadly, are stuck with a school-sanctioned freebie planned around the prom and the humiliation of cajoling a parent to phone in an alibi to spare them from Saturday morning detention. Where is the joy in that?
Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2012, we urge you to reclaim this proud tradition. Put the ditch back in senior ditch day. And leave Mom and Dad out of it.
How not to ditch
May 14, 2011
The principal of Naperville Central High School smelled a rat. Or maybe he read about it on Facebook. The senior class was plotting a ditch day on April 29.
So principal Bill Wiesbrook put out the word: Oh, no you don't. He met with the entire class in advance. He emailed their parents. He robo-called their homes. Not because he can't abide a senior ditch day, but because he can't abide two.
To a principal's studied eye, it was easy to spot. Seniors already were excused on April 27 and 28 — a Wednesday and a Thursday — while underclassmen suffered through the Prairie State Achievement Exam.
RU thinkN w@ I'm thinkN?
Sure enough, 70 percent of the class was felled by senioritis on Friday, April 29. Most of them were excused because their parents called in for them.
This happened despite the fact that at Naperville Central, senior ditch day is observed on the Monday after prom, or May 9 this year. So the kids were double-dipping, with an assist from Mom and Dad. After word got out that the principal was not pleased — "@#*@#!" was how he put it in an email to teachers — most of the seniors figured they'd better show up on May 9 after all. And they did.
So Wiesbrook gets our vote for principal of the year. But that's not what this editorial is about.
What the @#*@#! has happened to senior ditch day?
You know something has gone awry when a hooky holiday is built right into the school calendar, like Presidents Day or a teacher training workshop. It turns out this is the norm all over America, not just at Naperville Central.
And since when do parents call in and report that the truants were sick? Come on, young people. It's not really a ditch day if Mom and Dad have your back.
Senior ditch day has been around since Fred Flintstone was in high school. Here's how it's supposed to work: With their diplomas almost in the bag and a lifetime of adult burdens just ahead, the seniors take a powder for the day. They're off to Wrigley Field together, or maybe The Dells, thumbing their noses at the consequences.
Reveling in the memory at their 20-year reunion, the conspirators chortle at the image of humorless Mr. Flotsambottom, geometry quiz in hand, facing all those rows of empty desks. Even better, the entire class got a zero on that quiz and graduated anyway. Youth triumphs over authority on its way to world dominance! Mom and Dad had nothing to do with it.
Today's seniors, sadly, are stuck with a school-sanctioned freebie planned around the prom and the humiliation of cajoling a parent to phone in an alibi to spare them from Saturday morning detention. Where is the joy in that?
Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2012, we urge you to reclaim this proud tradition. Put the ditch back in senior ditch day. And leave Mom and Dad out of it.