<p>since I am in a small town it is hard to vent here without people getting overly defensive…so I will do it here! My daughter won a competition for a statistics project she did. It was not a <strong>huge</strong> award but it was a national competition and she won first place in her division. The notice she won came in March to her teacher and to our house. I, naturally, was very proud. The next day we saw the principal of her school and when my D told her that she had won all the principal said was “that’s nice” and “your mom will have to hang that up on the fridge”. I let it go - but now school is almost over and my D has received no recognition from the school - meanwhile every other kid has been recognized (and in the paper) for mediocre accomplishments (not really mediocre- read ‘school wide’ awards). It is not that I want her in the paper - I just want her to feel like what she did matters. I finally sent our copy of the award letter to the paper and they have been trying to contact the school for a few weeks to verify (which I understand) but the school has been uncooperative. I just don’t get it and I am very annoyed. I am beginning to think that the school in more interested in appearances than actual academic work - a kid in middle school won a Latin competition in the fall and the only mention of it was in passing in a school newsletter. </p>
<p>And…my D is younger so maybe they don’t make a big deal until they are older. I don’t know- I just am in a snitty mood today.</p>
<p>First of all, CONGRATS TO YOUR LOVELY DAUGHTER ON THIS MOST MARVELOUS ACHIEVEMENT!!!</p>
<p>IMHO, your feelings are COMPLETELY justified, and I totally understand where you are coming from. In fact, we went through this with our son last year. He brought SO much honor to his school during his tenure there, but precious little of it was acknowledged—the only things that WERE acknowledged were minor things the town favorites (who had connections) had accomplished.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d go ahead and encourage the paper to verify whatever it is they need to verify (WHY do they need to verify when they have a copy of the award letter??!!??!!) with someone else. Your D definitely deserves this recognition, even if it doesn’t come from her own school.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in our experience, this was just one of those life lessons about small towns and nepotism. But trust me when I tell you, we have ALL moved on! ~berurah</p>
<p>Can you suggest to the paper that they verify the award with the folks who actually ran the competition? One would think that this would be more important than the school’s verification.</p>
<p>And let me second berurah’s congratulations! Remember that those who are important (like you, the organization, and any colleges she applies to) know about it and are rightfully proud.</p>
<p>I agree. The feeling of honest pride is very special for us parents. And it is nice to see our kids’ accomplishments recognized; only fair when others receive that recognition.</p>
<p>I hope your D’s award does get its deserved recognition in your locale. But, if not, know that we here in cyberspace share your proud moment.</p>
<p>MagsMom,
Congratulations to you daughter on her great acheivement! Your school district should be celebrating this honor along with your family. Unfortunately, you are not alone. When my S was younger, he received a significant academic honor outside of the school district and was honored at Johns Hopkins U. At our School Board meeting, our district was set to publicly recognize the track team for an achievement at the state meet, and weren’t prepared to recognize my son and another child who had similarly achieved this national honor . I had to embarrass the superintendent by sending a letter which I circulated to School Board members, asking why he wasn’t celebrating academic achievement alongside athletic achievement. I’m afraid that sometimes schools think that singling out kids for academics is elitist. I hope your D sees her name and achievement in the paper.</p>
<p>Thank you - I really appreciate the support -</p>
<p>Up until this point I was trying to just wait and see if it was going in the paper - they really only put school news in Friday paper so after it didn’t appear last week I called and the community reporter said they had not heard back from the school for verification - I didn’t think to tell them to call the organization - so when it wasn’t in the paper today I was upset. I have called the community reported and left a message - when she calls me back I will ask her to verify with the organization - which I don’t really understand either since they have a website - I gave her the web address and it is on their letterhead and my D name and picture is posted on the site. Anyway, I think I just needed to get it out and now if it doesn’t appear in the paper, oh well. It is reassuring to know that this happens to other people too - I think I am in a situation where only certain kids will get the fanfare and unfortunately when my D was under 5 we didn’t own the requisite number of hand smocked frocks!</p>
<p>And thank you again - I am having one of those weeks where it feels I am treading water and I keep getting splashed in the face.</p>
<p>MagsMom - Congratulations on your Ds accomplishment! You’re annoyed and you SHOULD be. Let’s see, the Principal is clueless and your daughter is wonderful – I think you and your daughter are the winners there! If it’s any consolation, most of the parents on this board can relate stories about slights their children endured. In our local HS children of PTA members tend to do exceptionally well in the awards process. Grrrrr.</p>
<p>MagsMom, I really know how your D is feeling. I came #2 in the Entire nation for Science Talent Examination and all my school said was “Congrats”…The scoundrels didn’t even put it in the School magazine. They never bothered announcing my Intel-Science fair project either. And some other kids in my school also went unrecognised with even greater accomplishments like Int’l Physics Olympiad.
They always keep publishing the names of a few kids whom the absolutely adore just cuz they give the teachers flowers every day.
So from my side, Congrats to your daughter.</p>
<p>The shortsightedness of the school’s administration (and perhaps school board) is amazing. Often school districts (just like colleges) will publicize academic national awards and recognition received by their students in their marketing efforts to attract new residents with children. Maybe your school’s principal secretly wants to become the Maytag Repairman with his comment about sticking the award letter up on the fridge.</p>
<p>I got slammed on another thread because I was )(*%$# that colleges put so much emphasis and power into an applicant having been a varisty team captain, and not enough into other accomplishments</p>
<p>Bet if your D had broken some sort of record in sports, she would have gotten some attention by the school</p>
<p>Brain power is behind physical attributes as far as status is concerned and i find that very irksome</p>
<p>A couple of kids finally got recognized in our small local paper for being National Merit Finalists. I think they finally got recognized because of some extreme negative publicity the school got a couple of weeks ago when some kids were arrested. But at any rate, they did finally get some recognition, which I am glad to see. I know one of the kids, and I know the mom had a hard time making sure that the school sent in the stuff they were supposed to last fall when all the National Merit Stuff was going on. BTW, this small paper features a high school “athlete of the week” every week, and a full page or two every week covering high school sports. – I enjoy reading these, but do think that other types of achievements are often overlooked.</p>
<p>Anyway, whatever happens with the school and paper, CONGRATULATIONS to your D!</p>
<p>Shame on any school that doesn’t “brag on” their students’ accomplishments that aren’t “sports related”.</p>
<p>At my kids’ school, they have a short assembly after 1st period. At that time, the principal reads off all accomplishments/awards of students from the day before — whether they are sports, music, art, academic, national, local…whatever. The kids love it! Everyone claps at each person’s announced accomplishment. Warm fuzzies all around!!!</p>
<p>Why not asking the national organization to send a copy of the press release to your newspaper? Or ask the newspaper to check the website of the organization. </p>
<p>It seems that there is sufficient information about your daughter winning the to avoid needing the corroboration of your school.</p>
<p>yes thank you xiggi - I guess I am not nearly as computer savvy as you - took me a minute to figure out how you knew that! Very clever kid you are! Anyway, I was trying not to make an issue out of it (and now you will all think I am neurotic) because my D is only in first grade!!! I really am over it - just wanted to moan about something other myself today - I am in the midst of studying myself and I suppose obsessing about something other than my own work allows me not to become anxious about my own exams coming up. </p>
<p>And the editor of the school news section called me back and told me that she will put it in the paper when there is enough room - and again, it really wasn’t that I wanted her in the paper, it was more that I wanted her to know that academics do matter.</p>
<p>Thanks again - it is nice to hear that some people have similar experiences - it is especially nice to know that there are people who care about academic achievements.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter! It sounds like a wonderful honor. Any national award based on ability/skills is something that’s very special.</p>
<p>Thumbs down to the school for not proudly shouting your D’s honor from the rooftops.</p>
<p>You’re doing a wonderful job of being supportive. I don’t know why the community report lacked the good sense to check with the national organization, but I’m very glad that you’re following up. Feel free to vent away here. I feel for you.</p>
<p>Magsmom - Am I getting this right? Your D won a national statistics competition and she is in the first grade? If that’s so, seems to me that’s beyond amazing. Of course, it means you’ll likely have quite a few more of these frustrations before her K-12 career is through. You might want to join us over in Sinners Alley in that case :).</p>