A Commencement and an end of a term
Last month around the same date, I volunteered my time for CASE commencement ceremony, It was grand affair with music, flowers and commencement speakers. Students would have many events to celebrate the occasion. The newly minted graduates will be called class of 08, they can look forward to annual reunions, great careers, graduate schools and blissful suburban life.
Over the last two weeks I was involved in process of completion of academic year at the GED progarm at Lakewood Schools where I am a volunteer teaching math. The activities were 1)sorting student files into two piles. One pile for students who passed GED during the year, a green sticker was placed on those files and carted away for storage and other pile for students who didn't pass GED , a red sticker was placed on them and kept on active status.
Today (6/18/2008), there was small recognition ceremony for those who graduated during the just concluded academic year, there was no music, no robes, no ceremonical procesion, no robes( infact they were in all types of dresses and bandanas) and no commencement speaker, except for some school district officials. GED graduates will now try to escape minimum wage job, go to community college,probably go to suprevisory level in their current jobs and become islands in their inner city existence.
The difference between CASE and GED Lakewood commencement is very stark, so is the difference in thea chievement of the CASE students and GED students. CASE students were brought up with high expectations, proctected from difficulties of life.Whereas GED students are products of school of hard knocks each of them overcame troubled past, beat low expectation and poverty to manage their first significant acheivement of their life.
Having been thru the commencement and end of the term I am not sure what needs to be applauded
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