Failing us all.

Failing us all.

Alanna Neidigh, Editor

Imagine all the late nights that you stay up to complete assignments and study that end up being for nothing. Imagine if you got straight A’s and then they were practically ripped away. Imagine if grades didn’t matter.

This is something some students are wishing would happen in Norwin with the first nine weeks being a pass or fail term. If this were to be implemented  for the school year, the district would not be preparing the student body for the real world, and it ultimately is not fair to students who have worked so hard to get the grades they rightfully deserve.

I understand that given the current events with the pandemic, the educational system is not ideal.  I understand that all students are different, some dealing with mental health issues and learning disabilities. I understand this is a hard, stressful time for students.  But I feel that everyone is capable of getting their work done on time, and can reach out to a teacher via email with problems.

When we graduate and move on into the workforce, or college, your boss or professor is not going to care that you didn’t get something done, they are going to fire you or you are not going to get a grade. Especially with how things are right now, if you are struggling and you reach out to your teachers and explain that you’re struggling and feel like you need that extra support, they’ll give you that extra day, or they’ll give you that more in depth description to help you understand more. It definitely isn’t ideal that we have to be doing this online but in the real world we need to grow and adapt. The same applies to our education system.

Finally, going pass or fail isn’t fair. Students like myself and many others have worked hard. Why should we have to give up our grades? I have reached out to teachers and asked friends for help, I’ve even YouTubed extra lessons so I can make sure I know what I am doing in class. So how is it fair to basically rip away a rightfully earned grade? Not only from the grade aspect, but from a timely aspect as well, this hasn’t ever been discussed until recently.

Now, given this isn’t something the board or any official has approved many students still wish to try and see it implemented for this nine weeks, but as for the start of the school year, it would be a legit grading period so it wouldn’t be fair to change that now.

Overall, I do understand why students would wish to see this happen. I understand that every student is different. I understand that people have their own learning disabilities and things that may alter their learning abilities. But I feel like we are forgetting about the people who are spending so much time to keep their grades up. The pass/fail system should not be put in place because school is supposed to prepare us for the real world, but a pass/fail system would ultimately fail us all.