Norris School District

Speech to seniors for Honors Convocation

Welcome to the 2007 Honors Convocation!  Thank you for attending.  This is a wonderful event and I say that not merely because of the fabulous pastries and desserts our food service director Tini Van Oehlertz has prepared for us to munch on afterward.  This is a great evening because we get to celebrate the awesomeness that IS this year’s senior class and their remarkable accomplishments in academic endeavors and intellectual pursuits!  By a show of hands here tonight, how many of you seniors feel the quality of the food service program has improved drastically this year under Tini’s leadership?!  Yeah, that’s what I thought.  All right, that concludes the audience participation portion of tonight’s program.

Before we commence tonight’s festivities, I would like to introduce some of our distinguished guests.  . . . [Reference program for individual names.]

Tonight we have gathered to recognize excellence in academic achievement and seize the opportunity to affirm the students here for their many considerable accomplishments in scholarship.

Norris High School has an esteemed and deserved reputation for academic excellence.  Our ACT scores are amongst the best in the state, our state standards assessments bear out 90+% proficient performance rates across content areas on rigorous tests of student knowledge. 

Our school identity is a reflection of our students, and the student leaders gathered here tonight are the standard bearers for Norris High School.  In character, in conduct, in intellect, we uphold you as the paragon of what it means to be a Titan.  You guys rock – and now, as seniors, we’ve come to expect that!  We just expect that level of performance from you.  One thing that will be evident to all those of you here tonight is the competitive excellence that characterizes our outstanding seniors.  These young men and women are GAMERS.  They are really focused on results.  They battle for the grades and the competitive edge.  Grades and performance matter greatly to them – and when it comes to competing in an increasingly globalized marketplace, having the very best preparation possible has never been more important.  We hear about that everywhere, and that's the world we're living in. 

Today’s New York Times had an article about how many students across the nation who take supposedly ‘college preparatory’ curricula in High school are not sufficiently prepared for the rigors of post-secondary education.  They really aren't ready.  They get to college and only about half are able to battle their way to “C-level” success.  You’ll note that C grades and other average marks are not something that characterize this group tonight.

I am proud of the fact and I feel all of you here tonight should be proud as well, that our students have a very challenging curriculum here at Norris High School.  I want to assure you, students, that you have been prepared by the best.  We have excellent, master teachers who are incredibly knowledgeable of their content areas and experts in pedagogy.  More than that, we have some external quality indicators which we continue to meet and beat.  For instance, all of our Advanced Placement courses have undergone a rigorous AP Audit procedure and we have successfully been approved to carry the AP label for our AP courses next year.  Our reading standards and English – Language Arts curricula have been reviewed and our assessments rated as EXEMPLARY by an external review board of expert Nebraska educators.  And we have one of the strongest DUAL CREDIT partnerships in the state with a cooperative alliance with Southeast Community College that next year will include an ability to offer dual credit courses in Calculus and Chemistry in addition to the English courses we already offer.  You guys don’t need to fret too much about whether “college prep” means anything at Norris High School.  At Norris High School, a good percentage of you are walking out with COLLEGE CREDIT.  How many of you seniors have taken dual credit English?  Think about that!  What a great indicator of a challenging, advanced HS instructional program, and how seamless that will make the transition.  You’re ready for the next level, because you’ve already been earning college credits at this level.

Let me tell you, there is not an individual who can claim credit for having put all of the above in place, it is instead a total reflection of culture and community.  But I’ll personally guarantee you that without the influence of our postsecondary counselor and kind of the MC of tonight’s events who put this all together, CURT CARLSON, this school would not have the academic legacy it does.  Please join me in recognizing Curt.  I want to personally thank Curt and his counseling colleague Becky O’Connor for everything they’ve done to make tonight possible – for all those letters and the way in which Curt focuses his incredible coaching and scouting skills out on scholarship opportunities to help your kids capitalize on opportunities for postsecondary financial support.   

The value you parents and families place on education is one of the primary reasons for our students’ success.  ALL THE RESEARCH POINTS TO THAT.  In addition, the emphasis our community places on achievement is self-evident – just look at the awards presenters who are here tonight representing various factions and facets of the Norris community. 

So, seniors, while we celebrate the accomplishments you have attained over the last four years tonight, let’s remember to have gratitude for your community and supportive adults who provided the nurturing necessary to help you grow into the awesomely talented young people you are!