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j p nettles

Banned
Jul 1, 2012
380
63
76
Ebro
I hope I misunderstood your post. Each time i read it, I interpreted it to say that our Walton county kids aren't capable of being the best. I would argue that we get the best when we give the best. Are we giving our kids the best education possible? Are we demanding our educational system is amongst the top 1 percent?
I didn't read the same thing into Meggiemom's post as you did. My feeling is that National Merit Scholarships are usually won by gifted students. That's not to say that Walton county doesn't have some but most gifted students probably don't go on the earn Merit Scholarships either. I don't think you can measure a schools success by the number of these scholarships earned by students. How many Rhodes Scholars has Walton County produced?
 

DaleDalbey

Beach Fanatic
Nov 1, 2011
281
152
Rhodes scholars are designated based upon a student's performance in college, not high school. There are numerous ways to measure the success of our students. National Merit scholarships are one method. Bright futures is another. Competitive college acceptance is another. Graduation rates. Direct classroom expenditures to administrative overhead is another. Etc. Etc. How WCSD stacks up on many stats, not just one, seems appropriate.
 

j p nettles

Banned
Jul 1, 2012
380
63
76
Ebro
Rhodes scholars are designated based upon a student's performance in college, not high school. There are numerous ways to measure the success of our students. National Merit scholarships are one method. Bright futures is another. Competitive college acceptance is another. Graduation rates. Direct classroom expenditures to administrative overhead is another. Etc. Etc. How WCSD stacks up on many stats, not just one, seems appropriate.

I know that Rhodes scholars are designated based on college performance. I'm not an idiot. I had a cousin who was a Rhodes scholar. He attended a private school (Indian Springs in Alabama) and I believe he also won a National Merit Scholarship. I brought up the Bright futures but nobody seems interested although it's much more attainable than a National Merit Scholarship. As far as I know nobody in the high school I graduated from ever got one but it was an excellent school system. I simply don't believe that the number of National Merit Scholarship finalists and semi-finalists are a valid measure of a school's success. I wish I could have sent my two children to private schools but they did manage to earn BS degrees after graduating from public schools.
 

m1a1mg

Beach Fanatic
Mar 16, 2014
914
285
Lost in the world
I agree that there are many metrics to determine good schools. What I can't seem to find, and I've looked, is where WCSD brags about these accomplishments. We've lived all over the country, and parts of foreign countries, and one thing we've always noticed is school systems bragging about their accomplishments in education. WCSD, not so much.
 

DaleDalbey

Beach Fanatic
Nov 1, 2011
281
152
I agree that there are many metrics to determine good schools. What I can't seem to find, and I've looked, is where WCSD brags about these accomplishments. We've lived all over the country, and parts of foreign countries, and one thing we've always noticed is school systems bragging about their accomplishments in education. WCSD, not so much.
I think it has something to do with the humble nature of our educational leaders. They are too busy and pure-hearted to take the time to boast about accomplishments. (Sarcasm)
 

Zebraspots

Beach Fanatic
May 15, 2008
840
247
Santa Rosa Beach
I find it interesting that people are simultaneously complaining about "teaching to the test" regarding the FCAT and "not teaching to the test" regarding the PSAT.

Instead of fretting about specific tests, we need to be providing a good basic education to everyone with a focus on literacy and critical thinking. A broadly and competently educated student will always do better on any test than one who is educated with a narrow scope or a specific purpose.
 

sunny850

Beach Lover
Jul 16, 2012
59
47
Walton county has a National Merit Scholar winner, not just a finalist! A young lady at Walton High School in DeFuniak Springs was just awarded the scholarship. Its on the district website!
 

Danny Glidewell

Beach Fanatic
Mar 26, 2008
725
914
Glendale
Yes we do have a winner! She is a fine young lady and her parents are both wonderful people who have been educating our children for many years as well as raising their own.
 

Jdarg

SoWal Expert
Feb 15, 2005
18,068
1,973
That is weird. The winner was listed as homeschooled on the report I saw and posted at start of this thread. What year did she win? I looked at reports for several years back.
 
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