I spent all of this morning at an awards/graduation ceremony at Kiki’s school. I applaud the principal and the teachers for wanting to recognize all of the children in the school for their achievements. However I do not believe that handing out certificates that say things like “most likely to win at jeopardy,” “friendliest,” or “sweetest” is the best way to celebrate the accomplishments of the kids. Particularly when each of these labels was repeated several times in different classes. It was painfully obvious to me that the teachers were given a list to choose from when they were filling out the certificates. The child has spent 6 hours per day, five days per week, 9 months of the year with a particular teacher and all the teacher can think of to say is “Sweetest.” These aren’t certificates of achievement. They are empty pieces of paper. Children want to be seen and understood. Instead they are handed a label from a list. There has to be a better way to celebrate the growing that the children have done during the year.
Kiki’s certificate mentions creativity. She seems satisfied with it because it matches her picture of herself. But she would have been much happier with a personal letter in which the teacher actually talks specifically about the things she has accomplished in the past year.
Along with the pointless certificates, there were some legitimate awards handed out. Presidential awards for scholarship and Hope of America awards. You could see the difference in the kids who earned these awards. They could tell they had something special something that not everyone got. And they got the awards because they’d done things that not everyone did. Kiki did not win any of these awards. I wonder how she felt about that. I hope that she realizes that she can have such awards if only she is willing to apply herself. I also hope that she finds reasons within herself to do well in school; reasons that are based in her goals rather than in hope of receiving an award. “Awards won” is not the best measure of a good person. I wonder if some of my over-achieving high school classmates ever figured that out.
Honestly I think that Kiki was far more interested in the graduation refreshments than in any of the awards or ceremonies. She was thrilled that there were chocolate fountains for dipping things into. As for me, I came home and slept for awhile.