Priorities

This morning I ran across an article from the Boston Globe that told of a high school senior that did not receive her diploma because she choose an advanced placement biology class over a phys. ed. class. Check this out:

Though Isabel Gottlieb is a good student, a trumpet player in the school band and holds varsity letters in three sports, she discovered last fall she was one gym class shy of having enough credits to graduate next month.

She asked for a waiver, but the school wouldn't budge, telling her instead she had to drop a class to take gym.

"Why would I drop an AP biology class to take P.E.?" the 18-year-old said. "It's just not on my priority list."

The missing credit wasn't caught by the school last spring when Gottlieb's schedule was set. The class in question is called BEST, or Building Essential Skills for Tomorrow, and is required for all Bow students to graduate.

At the Seattle high school Gottlieb attended before moving to Bow before her junior year, gym requirements often were waived for students in varsity sports. But those waivers aren't something Bow High School is willing to accept.

At first I thought this was another example of our obsession with sports over education but once I saw what the program was called I realized it was more than that. Again, here's a public school believing their job is not to educate but to shape the thinking of students. Here's how the program is described on the Bow High School website. Notice that the program is listed as optional.

BEST 12 - The Senior Year (Optional)

This elective experience is designed to ready seniors for the world ahead of them. Students will be presented with material from various community resources discussing a variety of topics. Topics range from law as it pertains to the transition from adolescence to adulthood, to financial information on credit cards and purchasing/leasing vehicles. Students will participate in a variety of traditional and individual sport activities, adventure based education, and fitness activities throughout the course of their fourth year.

I find nothing more irritating than someone who can only follow their policy, even when it clearly violates their prime objective. Or could it be that the administrators of Bow High School don't believe their prime objective is to teach.