Not that I care but... (Opinion Column)

Feb 25, 2008

This is an opinion column I wrote for the december issue in my high school newspaper, I wrote about high school puts too much emphasis on Sports rather than academics

mikehall
cyber.lifeeditor&businessmanager
Every fall, winter, and spring, students are herded into the gym to honor our athletes. We sit in the stands and listen to the coaches tell us about games, individual victories and the introduction of players.
I didn’t think much of this until recently, when our football team beat long-time rival Eisenhower. The hallways were decked out with orange and black, and banners congratulated our football players.
I’ll admit that it was a great win, but shouldn’t academic groups that have equal, if not better, wins be recognized, as well?
Athletics constantly overshadow academics. When the Science Olympiad and Quiz Bowl teams made it to the state level last year, where were their banners? And how about DECA? Several members moved on to their national competition, yet few even know that a DECA team exists.
Even the Arrow earned its share of national recognition when it was nominated for a Pacemaker, ranking it in the top 1% - 2% of high school newspapers in the nation.
When an academic group wins an award or competition, they receive recognition in the “Principal’s Notes” portion of the newsletter, and, of course, the Arrow includes them, as well. Sometimes, academic groups are invited to Board of Education meetings to be recognized.
These small gestures; however, don’t compare to the cheers and thunderous applause our athletic teams receive at assemblies. They’re not getting the recognition they deserve, and that needs to change.
If we held an assembly to honor academic groups, not only would those involved get recognition from their peers, but the school would also be acknowledging that athletes are not the only ones that are worth missing a class or two to congratulate. An assembly might also help recruit new members.
When I was at Eppler Junior High, we had sports assemblies, but academics were also honored with an assembly. It seems that as soon as high school came around, the emphasis was dramatically shifted to athletics.
I find it amusing that the district’s new focus is supposedly on acadmics and the “college culture,” telling students to take more AP classes. Shouldn’t the district also shine some light on the students that are excelling and winning awards for their academic work?
I’m not saying we should eliminate athletic assemblies. I’m just saying that it’s important as a school that we give equal recognition to academics, as well.