Dear Editor:
Your recent article on the exhibitions at Anzar High School
emphasized the fear they inspire and the relief seniors feel when
they’ve finished. As a community member who has helped judge the
exhibitions for several years, I’d like to comment.
Dear Editor:
Your recent article on the exhibitions at Anzar High School emphasized the fear they inspire and the relief seniors feel when they’ve finished. As a community member who has helped judge the exhibitions for several years, I’d like to comment.
While seniors no doubt feel relief when they’re through, they appear to feel something even more lasting – pride. Perhaps your reporter didn’t observe a student ringing the school bell – the exhibition-finishing reward – applauded by friends, family and teachers. They’ve worked hard on self-chosen projects requiring depth, personal connection and a long timeframe. Now they’ve finished.
You can feel the confidence they’ve earned for themselves. They look ready to take on the world and beyond. What better way to send them off.
I feel doubly sorry for those students whose parents pull them from the school to avoid exhibitions. They’ll lose out on the experience mentioned above. And they’ll get the message from their parents: “We don’t think you can do it.”
This is both sad and surprising. Haven’t we been training our students to read, think, write and speak all these years? Oral presentations are surely nothing new. Rather than an outrageous detour, exhibitions seem a logical last step on the path we’ve guided our kids down for years.
The article stated that “many” students leave before their junior year to avoid exhibitions. The reporter gives no source for this. And how many, exactly is “many”?
To those who have questions or who’ve heard rumors – volunteer to be a judge. I knew nothing about the process before. I now see why exhibitions in various forms have been taken up by Pacific Grove High School, Santa Cruz High and Everett Alvarez.
The school welcomes all judges. What better gift can we give our kids than the sense that their education matter to the community at large?
Paul Fleischman,
Aromas
