Page 13 - 1986 VES Meteor

VOL. LXVII NO.6
•
Some of the biggest com- plaints among the VES students center on the Core Program.
Their primary concerns are the low grades they receive in the 11th and 12th grade history and English courses. the heavy work
load of the Core courses and the negative effect the Core grades have on college admissions pro-
spects. The faculty and ad- ministration share these student concerns - they agree the work
load is heavy and demanding - but feel the students have to look a little closer at their own abilities and efforts to help ex-
plain the negative results. They also believe there is more good to the Core program than meets
the students' eyes.
As evident from the grade
distribution chart below. the
11th and 12th grade Core
courses produce the lowest overall grades for those two years. While other subjects show a more honest grade spread, both history and English place
the majority of their students in the 'Q'range. Furthermore, the chart shows a rapid decline from the junior to senior year and clearly points out the students are less successful in junior history and seniors do not do nearly as well in English 12.
History 11 shows just one 'A', with the majority of students
scoring in the 'C' range; senior English posts no 'A's,' with a large percentage of the class
receiving a 'D' or below.
Obviously, the students are most concerned with the low grades they are receiving in
Core coursea, John Little put it
rett took the i eue a tep further that in order for a student to do by eommenting, "I feel tearhera well, he must spend at leaat
d aij!'n Core o atudente ran't seven hour a wPek with history
U S POSTAC£ PAID Pprm1t No 659
Lynchburg, Va Non-Prof1t Org
-- - - - - MAY 2. 1986
who could 'referee' the allocation of Core versus non-Core work.
•
Students also worry about the effect of their Core grades on col- lege admissions. Some,like John
By The Meteor Staff
make an A." Another student did not feel quite so strongly but
noted, "The top ten percent of the senior class should be able to
make an A."
Not every student feels the
same way. Frank Andr.ews, for one, says his grades in the Core has brought up his overall
average and thinks that anyone that doesn't succeed in history or English doesn't try hard enough•
CLASS OF 1986- Jli:\lOR"\T..-\R English II ICOREJ
HistoryIIICOREJ lAPUS.US!
Mathematin
!Honors Analysis, Algebra II, Geometry)
Scleoc:e
(Physics, Chemistry)
l•nguegea
(French, German, Latin, Spanish)
Religion FiDeArU
(Art, Music, G'ee Club)
work. He also claims, "As far as effort goes, I feel that a lot of work is done at VES; most
students receive a grade equal to
grades, and still have any time left over for their other subjects? Many feel the work load in Core takes up too much time in study
quite simply when asked if Core
do1·m, you're doomed." Mr. Garmey adds, "Many juniors and seniors expect high grade for
freshman and aophomor effort."
Do th students, how v r, have f!nough tim to doth work needt"d to achieve hil!'h Cor
realizf' how much work is being done on dorm by students in thf'ir sections. Mrs. Berry agrees with this, adding he notice th problem much more at the 12th grade ll"vt"l. To hPlp d al with thla matlt"r, Mr. Let~ think• VES
should look into finding som on
easily on college-level work while 1tudenta from public hirh sthoola were tr~rliag. Mr.
Zimmereeboeathi1thourht,aay. ing the 1tudenta who their
to the 1"ind1tone Cln 1hould find It ....u,helfhlia eel
rea ons for this. Some claim that Nobody makea an A." Rirk Garr- the atudents. Mr. Smith says
grade. were too low: "Yea. it is due in part to th lazin ss of
Hea
B Cliff hroedu
() rDJI'l'ar nta'Wr kendMr.
Z1mm r poke to the parenta ron rn ng v nil ubjP.I'ta, Joir • h upld anti dor m1tory. All of th~ 1'!, whAn a11
provAd, ahould h ftniah•·d in th~> n lit l82.C month.
Mr Z•mml'!r apok ahuul h1a tand llfatn t alroht,l and drug
ahu A, If desrr1lwod th VI 11 ''' th JoredmfromChmira)
I nd ntUt into a course." Some other centrate almost solely on Little, realize that the
hall, forcing the students to con-
•
an advantage in a way -
leges respect VES' challenging curriculum, making the students