My School Is Lame

At about 9:30am, approximately 20 minutes into AP English Lang, we are discussing the use of rhetoric in literature and various other situations. Out of the blue, the known *beep* of the intercom system is heard. The entire class moans. At Dillard, this can mean several things: word of the day, a message from the principal, an assembly, or lock down. Today it was a little different. After the beep, Mary J. Blige's Just Fine begins playing for 30 seconds. Exchanging stares of confusion with Mrs. Dinlocker and everyone else in the class, it was apparent that no one had any idea what was going on. Finally a voice appears--it is Marvin, the guy from the morning announcements, dubbed the "WDHS Morning Show" a few months ago. He asks for the attention of all juniors, and immediately the thought of assembly pops in my mind (and everyone else around me), but luckily, it wasn't an assembly. Of all classes, this was definitely not the one to be missing for some lame assembly.

Introducing, the Panther Power Card...

So, as a junior, if I score a level 4 or 5 on the science FCAT, I'll get one of these "amazing" Panther Power Cards. What is a Panther Power Card, you ask? (I hate phrasing sentences like that, but it goes along just fine [LOL!] with all of the cheesiness in this entry) Upon earning stellar scores on the science FCAT, eligible juniors, seniors at the time, will receive a Panther Power Card, entitling them to:

• a free parking decal for the 2008-2009 school year
• free admission to any home game of any sport
• free admission to the 2009 Prom
• a trip to Grad Night 2009

Sounds cool, I guess, but none of that stuff really applies to me. Also, I doubt that more than 75 of such cards, if that many, will be awarded. I expect to score a level 4, not to sure about the 5, but it really doesn't matter--at all. This is the first year that the science FCAT will count towards graduation, but even still, it doesn't matter. I know I won't fail. So if I do get this card, I probably won't be driving to school, actually, it'll be impossible since I don't even have my learner's permit yet and it'll take a whole year to get my license, and I doubt that I'll have a car. Sports games? HA! Prom? Mmmm, probably not, but still a maybe. Grad Night is probably the only thing that I might take advantage of...it's free after all. But of course, this is all assuming that I get at least a 4...

So now with all of this hype, and really no excitement from the junior class at all, I'd like to flashback to a similar situation my freshman year. Around mid-February of 2006, all of the freshmen were pulled out of class during 2nd block into the gym, where we were given FCAT tips, strategies, and motivation, along with rap music blaring out of the over-blasted speakers. After all of this encouragement and bullshit, the principal came out and made a "promise" to our class after buttering us up with the same ol' story that "blah you were the first class when I got here so this is my favorite blah", we were promised that students that improved 1 level, or maintained a 5, on the reading or math sections would be awarded a free class trip (I think it was to Islands of Adventure??) at the end of the school year. Did this ever happen?! Nope. I actually did both, I went from a 4 to 5 in reading, and also maintained my 5 in math, whatever though...I wouldn't have gone on the trip anyway.

Sophomore year, they stuffed us with pizza on 3 different occasions to bribe us into scoring well on the writing exam. It actually worked, since Dillard had an average score of 4.5/6, which is pretty damn good for a school that still can't get half of the students to pass the Reading FCAT.

[back to today]

After 3 minutes of introducing this as if it was the offer of a lifetime, the announcement cuts out in the middle...gotta love intercom systems. He comes back on about a minute later after 2 failed attempts to reconnect, and then starts talking about the whole thing again from the beginning. For the sake of our education, the announcement finally ends, or so we thought it did. Just Fine continues playing for another 30 seconds, when it finally ends for real, thank goodness! I want my 5 minutes of English back!

Another lame attempt by Dillard to promote higher FCAT scores...