Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

From the Counselor's Desk

by Donald Crane

Well, students are still coming and going from Prescott High School.

Some of those who drifted off during the summer to other schools are now showing up on our doorstep. All I can say is that there must be a lot of turmoil taking place in some families from the time school ends and when it begins again.

This is a problem which appears to get worse each year, and it's evidence of the confusion in our present society. It's not fair to our children, but those of us who have to deal with these problems are powerless to change them.

People are always asking about how things are going at the school. "Fair to middling," I usually reply. Considering the adverse circumstances we are working under, I suppose things are actually going well.

Earlier today, I received a call from some reporter at the TEXARKANA GAZETTE. She wanted to visit PHS, take some pictures, and do a story about schools coping with tragic circum-stances. She called again to cancel, but I think it would have made a good article.

Recently, several schools around the state have had experiences similar to ours, and I imagine there is a unique story behind every one.

I want to alert parents now about the upcoming Stanford-9 testing. It will take place over three days, September 24, 25, and 26. We will use only parts of each day and rotate the time so students won't miss too much of any one class. In the past, we have done it in one day, and the seniors who are not tested have been given a day off.

That won't happen this year. Seniors will be required to attend, and we have special things concerning future careers we would like to share with them during the times others will be tested.

Once again, only the sophomores will be tested for statewide comparison. We didn't do well at all last year. In fact, we did terrible! Personally, I think it's ironic when a school ranks number one in football and near the bottom on sophomore achievement scores. I certainly hope there's no correlation there. But some of you readers may recall that following the tests last year, I wrote an article predicting the low level outcome. The reason was 90% apathy. I administered the test and I saw a complete unconcern on the part of many. Had it not been for a few others who took it seriously and scored well, our results would have been even lower.

This year, we hope to provide some incentive which will cause more concern for the test. I'm thinking of something in the area of providing "bonus" points for the classes which a student is currently taking.

For example, a student who scores at a certain percent on the English part of the test would gain a specified number of bonus points in his regular English class -- whether he is currently enrolled or will be taking it next term.

This could offer a real advantage. It could bump a student with a "B+" average up to an "A-" or an "F" up to a passing "D." Parents, think about it, and start to work on your student now!