By: Harleen Kaur
The controversy over class rank here at Williamsville East has taken over the front page of our newspaper too many times. And in reality we have made a lot of progress. The issue has been brought to the board’s attention and has been discussed multiple times at school board meetings. But as the school begins to watch the seniors stress once again, the newspaper (as always) is here to cover it.
East has had a long history of class rank. It had started as a list to be posted with students names written in order of their rank. But as the school realized this may come to be uncomfortable for many students, they began listing the students’ numbers instead of their names. But the same issue began to arise again as students began to find out others’ numbers the school began sending home letters stating students’ rank. This year, in an effort to go green (or help students’ hide their rank from their parents, we’ll never know) the school has begun to post rank on WITS. Yet, it seems that no matter how hard the school may try, class rank has consistently been an uncomfortable topic for the students here at East.
As we have continuously stated in previous issues, it is unfair to judge the students here at East by class rank because we have such high level students at the difference between 1 and 2 may be by less than a .01 point on the average. And when colleges see such results they may see your #11, oh that wretched number, as insufficient when really that student reaches a level similar, if not better, than many valedictorians at other schools. And to put a number on a student here at East is not only an insufficient measurement of their intellect, but it can also be a serious stress factor.
We have all heard the stories from Mr. Nogowski of how the student who receives #11 always ends up upset because he/she didn’t make it into the top ten, but in reality that student should be ecstatic. It is not only the fact that he/she probably could have ranked in the top five at another school, but it is the fact that that student feels like that number defines them. And I’m sure a lot of students feel that way, and while they may be upset that they didn’t receive a high enough rank there is also the feeling that they couldn’t do better than the other students in their grade. And while competition can be a good in certain situations it reaches a certain level when it just brings a huge pile of stress upon students’ shoulders that not only affects them mentally but emotionally.
So, while this is only the first class rank article this year, and there will probably definitely be more, take the chance to think about the impact that class rank has had on our seniors. We have made a lot of progress of the past few years, but class rank is still thriving, and this year’s seniors will be happy to rant about it to all you underclassmen. But as a junior, there is no way I want to go through that stress next year, and I would encourage the board to take this into consideration the next time they begin to discuss the issue.
