Graduation Speech And Components Of The 2013-2014 School Year

I have been going to school since I was four years old and, that means that I have been attending school twenty to twenty two years, including kindergarten, middle school, high school and now college. As every student, I had my ups and downs in school; I had some failures and some successes. One of the failures that affected me the most and that I will always remember was the time that I was in high school during my junior year. I failed almost all my classes and, I only passed two classes and with a C. In the other hand I had some really good success. The most recent one and the one that I am still happy about is getting my Family Development Credential. We learn from our mistakes and also from our successes, these two times in my life

The Common Core Standards are an outline of the skills and knowledge students must know in each grade; kindergarten through the twelfth grade. They include a specific curriculum in mathematics as well as english/reading. The Core was created in 2009 by governors and state commissioners of education. The goal of the common core is to prepare students to succeed in college, their careers and life. However, since the implementation of the core it has become a controversial issue with support on both sides. The common core has not improved our education system but has unfairly assessed students knowledge through tests, ignored students individual learning styles and overlooked important life skills. (Bloodworth)

To remediate this, we contracted with the Achievement Network to help us connect the standards to a curriculum and plan for a more fluid instructional delivery that would improve the assessment outcomes. They provided us a structure that laid out the Common Core Standards of assessed skills that included a scripted curriculum and instructional activities outlined in their guidelines. Students are making growth towards attainment. However, only 9% of the student population have met grade-level proficiency targets. Teachers are feeling that they are harshly judged because 30% of their evaluation is based on students meeting proficiency.

The Common Core State Standards provide clear and consistent learning goals to help prepare students for college, career, and life, these standards clearly show what students are likely to learn at each grade level, so that every parent and teacher can comprehend and provide support for the students learning. It is stated that, “these standards set grade-specific goals, they do not express how the standards should be taught or which resources should be used to support students”. Many states and local districts identify that there will need to be a variety of backings in place to confirm that all students, (including those with special needs and English language learners), can master the standards (Common Core State Standards Initiative).

“Say cheese!” the photographer shouted. I have always dreaded those words because in “saying cheese” it would mean to show my twisted teethe. I am Olga Monic Gamboa a senior at United South High School, vice president of National Honor Society, vice president of LULAC, and officer for many other clubs. I am very active in my community and my school, which lead me to be embarrassed to show my teeth. Every time I speak at a meeting or a presentation I am afraid they are just staring at my teeth or falling asleep with the non facial expression I put on. I can’t smile while knowing that a tooth is to forward and a tooth is hidden in the back. In a year I will be going to college and I need to look professional and be confident in my smile. A smile

Exactly how this goal is met, has not yet been revealed to many and thus the cause for alarm continues. In caparison to the old standards and the CCSS, little to no comparison has been noted in test results, achievement scores and comprehension of students. The difference is shown in areas of testing against other

Hello, I am Sean Hart, I am a 12th grade student here on behalf of Legacy High School.

As the summer of 2014 came to an end, I was looking forward to the quiet, still days ahead. For the first time in twenty years I had a planned break, my calendar was intentionally cleared for the rest of the year. For as long as I could remember my life was similar to a roller coaster, traveling full speed in constant motion through ups and downs, and a break was imperative. A couple years earlier, I unexpectedly quit my job of fifteen years to home school my youngest son who was struggling to survive amongst many learning challenges after a disheartened school meeting. Learning how to endure day to day was met with a set of new challenges, from trying to teach a difficult child to read, to figuring out how to budget a family on a single income. As time went on, life began to slow down, my son worked hard to close his educational gaps and was eager to return to school and I, for the first time in my life, was looking forward to taking a step back before contemplating the future. At this point I was unaware of the direction my life would soon take and how it would bring me to question what I knew about myself. In life we are often conditioned to stay connected to what is known, fearful to take risks, however life is filled with endless opportunities if we are willing to face our fears, take risks and be open to learning something new.

The Fall of 2010 was about as normal as every other fall that preceded it. The leaves changed colors and the weather got colder. It also meant that school was back in session. To me, fall time meant athletics were back in season. I was entering 7th grade and I was bummed that summer was over but excited because I was almost a year older. I was about to turn thirteen years old; I could almost call myself a teenager. I had always participated in sports but this was my first year that I could play middle school sports. I tried out for the football team and made it. I officially was an athlete for my school and I could not have been more excited. I felt like I mattered. My relationship with my father was like any other. Or at least I thought. As the season went on, the only time he came to anything of mine was to pick me up from practice or after an away game; to make it worse, he never came to any of my games which disappointed me. But it never occurred to me that something was weird between us.

After a year of writing: college entrance essays, scholarship essays, SAT essays, and AP essays I learned to hate writing essays. They were the death of me! During my first semester I avoided them at all costs. I would make an hour long presentation or a scrapbook to express myself so I didn’t have to sit at the computer for an hour and look at that dreaded blank page with the flashing cursor telling me I didn’t have a single word written. My second semester at U of A is when that started to shift. To change the way I wrote, I had to change the way I thought. That is exactly what I did. I have learned a lot about my own and others’ writing skills this semester by learning to analyze what works for papers and by identifying my strengths and weaknesses.

As the summer of 2014 came to an end I was looking forward to the quiet, still days ahead. For the first time in twenty years I had a planned break, my calendar was intentionally cleared for the rest of the year. For as long as I could remember my life was like a roller coaster traveling full speed in constant motion through ups and downs, a break was imperative. A couple years earlier without preparation I took a life altering risk, I quit my job of fifteen years to home school my youngest son who was struggling to survive amongst many learning challenges after a disheartened school meeting. Learning how to endure day to day was met with a set of new challenges, from trying to teach a difficult child to read, to figuring out how to budget

Grammar school, middle school, and most high schools share one thing in common; they offer the same basic history, math, English, science, and social science course. By the time high school comes around students have already learned the same things again but only this time it is harder and more in depth. College becomes a time that a student really begins to learn about what they want to do with the rest of their lives. When applying to college, applicants don’t apply to learn math, English, history, and science. They apply to learn just math, English, Art, Business, Biology, Chemistry, Criminal Justice and many others. By having a core curriculum, it takes away time that students have to learn deeply about their program of interest. However, if colleges and universities focused more on the curriculum of student’s majors, and less on the core curriculum, these students may have a better understanding of what they want and less chance of graduating late.

Congratulations to my fellow graduates and their parents and guardians. The only way out is through and we did it. I am proudly standing here as valedictorian of the first graduating class here at Humanities III. Before I begin, I would like to offer specials thanks to the staff and faculty who have journeyed along with us and kept our heads on straight, especially those who have stuck by us for these past four years.

High School graduation can be an exciting time in a student’s life. It is a time when they

While a new year means new beginnings—changing to a new calendar, signing up for a new gym membership, and struggling to remember to write 2016 on our checks—markets are starting 2016 off with the same growth concerns and heightened volatility that made the second half of last year a challenging one for investors. In fact, the calendar year 2015 was highlighted by essentially flat returns across stocks (S&P 500 advanced 1.4%), bonds (Barclays Aggregate Bond Index advanced 0.6%), and cash (which returned 0.2%). Notably, this was the first time in over 60 years that all three major investment categories were simultaneously unchanged—plus or minus 2%—over a full calendar year.