JH Talent search

Consolation
Wed, 17 Sep 2014 20:35:10 +0000

My S did this and I subsequently was the MC at our state ceremony several times. (Sometimes they send someone from JHU. Some states have more than one ceremony.) At least here, the ceremony was always held at a college or university, and there was always an interesting speaker from the school: at U Me Orono, the head of their Honors College; at Bates, a student (who was great).

The ceremony is intended to make kids feel good about their intellectual achievement and potential, the same way the MUCH more frequent sports “banquet” does in regard to kids’ athletic accomplishments. There area plenty of kids who go to schools where intellectual accomplishment is almost treated like a dirty secret, and the public recognition is reserved for athletes. The desire is to encourage them to continue.

If you don’t go, they will mail his certificate. There are also some special awards for the highest scoring kids in the state, so he could get one or more of those, also.

Is it “worth” attending the ceremony? That probably depends on whether you think your son would benefit from it, and how difficult it is for you to do so. As someone who has taken the trouble to help mount the ceremony, I can say that WE appreciated it when people showed up! :)

ETA: Your S is now eligible for summer CTY, which my S adored. He is also eligible to take online classes. That flexibility can make a big difference in some circumstances. It did for us.