Every student should be aware that the end of the first quarter is Friday, October 27th. Lots of students are in a great position finishing out quarter one as they have stayed on top of their work and have managed their time well. Other students however may be in a different situation. Quarter one hasn’t been the easiest and already this year, many students have not been at school for multiple days or for multiple weeks. Other factors can contribute to why a student hasn’t had a great first quarter. Sports and the stress of other factors in their life. School might not be the top priority for lots of students due to other things going on in their lives. However, school should be a top priority. Your education is very important especially if you are considering going to college after high school. Many students might not want to hear this but doing your job as a student comes first before being able to have extracurriculars and privileges.
In order to get the student’s attention on this issue, the students have to see the bigger picture. As a student writing this article, I hope you can see and care about the direction you should be headed in. I talked to Mr. Clair on this issue and being your school counselor, he cares a lot about this issue and has a lot to say as well. In the past week, Mr. Clair visited each study hall period to talk to the students about a D and F list. Mr. Clair told the students around roughly 20-30 students in each grade had a D or F. This as a student was shocking to hear as it is only the first quarter of this school year and students are already falling behind. Mr. Clair has some advice he would like the students of Woodmore High School to hear. “For Seniors, it’s pretty clear that in order to GRADUATE and earn the requirements from the school district and the state of Ohio, their academic responsibilities have to be a priority, and the time has come for them to do all that they can to solidify that diploma if they haven’t as of yet”. This is a big one for seniors because if you plan on going to college after high school, you have to have certain academic requirements, and having one or multiple D or F’s in one or multiple classes right now in the first quarter is a red flag for colleges.
Now regarding grades 9-11, this issue might not seem as big of a deal to you right now as it is for the seniors. Lots of students in grades 9 through 11 do not care and it’s hard to get their attention on this issue. As students in grades 9 through 11, you need to see the bigger picture. Here is some advice from Mr. Clair. “When things get hard or difficult for students, as they tend to do when we are discussing class requirements deeper into the school year, asking for help or guidance or putting in some extra time are ways to see accomplishment, but the response now, more often than not, is to just don’t do it or spend their energy finding a way out That can be in the form of not doing an assignment or even not showing up for school”. Showing up to school has been a big issue already this quarter. Your job as a student is to show up to school and do your work. Being sick or having a personal issue is one thing, but purposefully skipping school for multiple days is unacceptable. Stop being lazy and not doing your job. As you get older, you’re going to get a job and have to show up to that job. If you continue to not go to work for multiple days for no reason, you will get fired and no one will want to hire you. It all starts with making school a priority and showing up. Building that habit early on of showing up and coming to school every day with the exception of being sick, will help you later on in life with being able to be held accountable for yourself.
This next piece of information will hopefully resonate with students more and hopefully get your attention more. The bigger picture that students don’t always think about is that as this accumulates, they are creating more challenges for themselves within the bigger picture. Things that are affected are admissions into Penta, adding more classes to their schedules because they have to recover credits (snowball effect), eligibility for sports, glaring concerns for employers because of the concern for lack of soft skills, parental involvement in the student’s daily routine, etc. The teachers at Woodmore High School are working to provide as many opportunities as they can to help improve the students’ accountability and for the students to see the bigger picture. Mr. Clair gave an explanation of why the teachers have a D and F list. “The purpose of all teachers having access to a D/F List is to create awareness so that we can help, re-direct, and demonstrate to students ways to manage their time better here in school, how to prioritize tasks, and limit distractions. The goal is not to take away their privileges and independence but to help students foster good work habits”. Students need to see the bigger picture and how there is more than just one purpose for the things that teachers ask of them.
Students already seem to be aware of “the list”. Awareness is one of the most important goals and sometimes you have to see the results of your habits to see how to correct them. So maybe the name D and F list is a good thing.
