I got to be "Mama Bear" again this fall. I had to contact Weston's English teacher about the 9th grade reading material. Weston came home one day disgusted with the book he was reading - "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." He showed me the passage he had read, and I was shocked to see it was on masturbation. Another chapter talked about "metaphorical boners." I contacted Weston's teacher to get him a different book to read and inquire about the book choices. His teacher was helpful and provided the 10 books they got to choose from, along with the descriptions as given by the school. I was disappointed to find that 8 of the 10 books had content warnings. He chose a different book without a content warning, but it wasn't a great book either (about a white cop that killed a black teenager). Weston's teacher hadn't even read the first book and thus wasn't aware of the content. He also said he didn't choose the books. All the book selections were chosen and approved by a district committee. He said I could discuss concerns with the assistant principal. I got essentially the same thing from the assistant principal, but he also gave a district contact. I tried to contact her, but she never responded back to me at all. I spent a couple of days collecting online reviews and additional content warnings for all 10 of the books for 9th grade English classes. All 10 books needed content warnings. They all had profanity. Several had violence and sexual content. The books that were supposed to raise cultural awareness were given negative reviews from members of those particular communities saying they weren't a good representation of their community. It was all garbage reading material. I sent my "book reports" to Weston's teacher, the assistant principal, and district administrator. I also emailed several friends to warn them of the reading material for 9th grade. At least I could raise awareness among other parents of what their kids are reading if the district won't do anything about it. We also realized (according to Owen) that it's better to take the separate Ethnic Studies class instead of the English / Ethnic Studies combo class because the combo class just has to read garbage YA modern novels that supposedly raise cultural awareness. The separate Ethnic Studies class actually focuses on the history of racism and oppression of other groups in society.
Here are the book selections for 9th Grade English
I also had to help Owen get into National Honor Society. He had applied the end of October and then got a rejection letter in November. We were shocked that he didn't get in and wondered how it was possible that he didn't qualify. He has a 4.3 GPA, taking AP classes, has lots of service and leadership, along with glowing character reviews from his coaches and teachers. He excels in all 4 areas of NHS - character, leadership, service, and scholarship. He wrote his essay, got the required teacher letters, and turned in everything by the deadline. I told him to follow up with the NHS adviser, inquiring why he didn't qualify. At first, the adviser responded that the committee used a "holistic approach" to selection and he wasn't chosen. She also said he didn't get one his teacher recommendations. The teacher letters were actually in, so that wasn't the reason. Owen had personally spoken with the teachers and had verified those were turned in. Then the adviser said it came down to Owen not sending an email confirmation to her after moving his 20 service hours from his general hours to donate to NHS. She mentioned in the email to let her know if Owen needed help moving those hours and then letting her know when the hours had been moved. Well, Owen didn't need help going to the career center to complete that task. He did that on his own, but he didn't know he was required to send confirmation to the NHS adviser after doing so. Since he had failed to do that, she wouldn't re-consider him for NHS this year. She simply told him to apply again next year. After a couple of failed attempts by Owen to be re-considered, I asked him for her contact info - my turn. She tried to tell me the same thing. I pointed out that Owen is known for his good communication with his coaches and teachers. Owen's volleyball coach actually gave him a shout out in the parent meeting as being great at communicating. I also told her that communication wasn't one of the measured areas of excellence for NHS and how she could have communicated a little better by letting Owen know that he wouldn't be admitted if he didn't confirm moving his service hours. I also pointed out that simply telling juniors to re-apply the next year was a disservice to their college success, since some applications for college have to be turned in before acceptance is given for NHS. They needed the participation their JUNIOR year to be included on their college applications. I further pointed out that Owen seemed to be held to a higher standard or targeted for one lapse in communication, disregarding his grades, character, references, and everything else. It wasn't a "holistic approach" that was used for selection. The NHS adviser admitted that there were other students who didn't send a confirmation email and didn't get in either. She said that ALL students who didn't complete that task were rejected. That was really sad to hear, and I knew it wasn't right. She was worried that the students wouldn't communicate with her about attendance at NHS meetings. It seemed to be a hidden communication test as part of the application process. I pointed out that Owen took the initiative to reach out to her, to follow up and communicate - the very quality she was looking for. Anyway, she didn't want to accept Owen into NHS, but in her last email, she reluctantly said that if I still believed Owen should participate this year, she could try to skirt the rules on requirements for getting in. I thought that was great and said, "Let's move forward."
She sent an acceptance email the next morning, so he did get in this year. I felt bad for the other students who also got rejected for not sending an email, so I again contacted the assistant principal to make him aware of the application / admittance process for NHS. He replied back that he spoke with the NHS adviser and they agreed to change the process a bit next year, with a check list and google form to confirm service hours. That was good, although he didn't mention if the other students affected this year were offered admittance. I did my part to be the parent advocate that these students didn't know they needed.
We learned from this experience:
1. Don't give up when you feel like you've earned something.
2. Follow up on all tasks and communication.
3. Sometimes you need an advocate to help.
4. It doesn't hurt to ask for what you want.
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