Now at Yale, she credits Governor’s Honors Program with expanding her mind and world. It’s about to go away.
A longstanding summer enrichment program for high achieving Georgia high school students loses funding next year year under a Senate vote. As you might imagine, the suspension of the popular Governor’s Honors Program is sparking many complaints, but none as elegant as this one from Yale student Annie Wang.
The Governor's Honors Program offers talented high school students a fully funded summer of enrichment education at a college campus. (This is an art student in the 2006 GHP class.) Funding is about to be halted.
By the way, if you wonder what work ethic it takes to get into Yale; Annie wrote this e-mail at 1 a.m. I read it this morning at 7:30 and sent her a note that I would like to use it. Within 30 minutes, I had a revised copy from her. There is a lot of posturing on this blog about the inherent failings of “government schools.” But there are many schools producing brilliant students. Annie is one example.
I graduated from Walton High School in Cobb County last year, and I’m currently a freshman at Yale University. I’ve been reading your “Get Schooled” blog for the past couple of years, and I wanted to bring an issue to your attention.
For the past 40 years, Georgia has funded a summer program called the Governor’s Honors Program that is designed “to provide gifted high school students a summer program of challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year.” Students are selected from schools across the state in a very competitive process in a variety of disciplines, from math to music, science to social studies, dance to design. I attended GHP in the summer of 2007 as a Social Studies major (Soc Stud, if you will) and math minor.
As a Soc Stud, I took classes every day in subjects like a study of the year 1968, the economy of Africa, early Christian heresy, childhood attachment and bonding, and so much more. While this might just sound like normal school with weirder classes, the remarkable thing about GHP was that it didn’t really have classes, and it wasn’t really a school. Rather, GHP was a starting point for the pursuit our own interests. It allowed us to veer from the curriculum or rather, design our own.
Every single major at GHP has some kind of final presentation of a project that they work on independently for an extended period of time. Science majors present research. Music majors put on concerts. Dance majors have a recital. Math majors play probability games. Agricultural majors milk a cow (and present their research).
As for us soc studs? We put on a history fair!
One day a week, we soc studs were given free rein in the library to pursue a research topic of our choice. One student researched the special relationship between the United States and Great Britain. Another researched the influence of Pokémon on pop culture in the 1990s. (As I said, free rein.) My group researched the religious basis of the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
We interviewed local religious leaders, scoured online databases, and even hit the microfiche machines once or twice. By the end of the six weeks, we produced 3 tri-boards, a giant timeline, a brief video, and an architectural model of a mosque and a synagogue, mosque-o-gogue for short. (I’ve attached two pictures of our final report.)
The experience of producing the product was illuminating in and of itself. Believe it or not, GHP was the first time I had ever gathered primary sources for any kind of history paper. It was the first time I ever read an academic paper on history. It was the first time I had pursued even the rudiments of independent research.
So why did I do it? GHP doesn’t have tests. GHP doesn’t have grades. Instead, we have peer pressure—the good kind, that is. Six hundred students attend GHP every year, and these students are some of the talented and most passionate people I’ve ever met. GHPers challenge one another to be the best that they can be, and maybe even beyond what we our best is.
(Think my final project was elaborate? One student built a replica of a New York subway entrance, to scale.) My fellow GHPers, as well as the experience of GHP itself, taught me about research, initiative, and spontaneity in academia. It certainly pushed me farther intellectually than I had ever gone before.
But it was actually just one question, posed by an administrator no less, that pushed me over the edge.
We had been warned about the academic supervisor of GHP. He would wear a Salazar Slytherin T-shirt to show just how scary he really was. I remember the group had picked me to talk to him about our project, and my teacher had warned that he liked to quiz students. At first, the questions were easy. “How was the modern state of Israel founded?” “Describe the religious differences between Judaism and Islam.” I thought I had it in the bag; after all, these were more-or-less factual questions. They had an answer, and I could produce those answers. Or so I thought.
“Well, how would you solve it?”
“Solve what?”
“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict. How would you solve it?”
I had no idea how to answer. I had no idea that I, a 16-year-old girl from Marietta who had never been the Middle East in her life, was even vaguely qualified to give an answer. I don’t remember my answer from that night, but I remember the question. I remember because that question marked the first time I had been challenged to do something. It was the first time that I thought of myself as someone who could do something, who really could have something to offer to the world. I’m sure, in the abstract, every high school student wants to change the world, but until I attended GHP, I never thought that I actually could.
But if I hadn’t attended GHP, if I hadn’t done the research, if I hadn’t met all these great kids, if I hadn’t been given the opportunity to pursue my wildest interests — I wouldn’t be able to change the world.
And that’s the thing with GHP — it pushes you beyond your own limits. It challenges you in every way, to rise up to the talent of those around you and beyond. If I hadn’t attended GHP, if I hadn’t performed independent research, if I hadn’t chased my wildest interests, if I hadn’t met all these great kids—I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t be who I am today.
I wouldn’t be a student who recognizes all the problems of the world and wants to fix them. I wouldn’t be studying sociology with the intent to research and produce legislative policy one day. GHP is an educational experience that epitomizes the purpose of education: to prepare you for life. If it were up to me, every student would attend GHP, and our state would be so much the better for it. Imagine a generation of youth who are passionately devoted to finding a solution to social problems and, moreover, believe themselves capable of doing so. Just imagine how Georgia would benefit, how the country would benefit.
Unfortunately, the Georgia Senate lacks that imagination.
This week, they passed a proposed budget for 2011 that eliminates the Governor’s Honors Program and end its 40 year tradition of excellence. I vehemently oppose any legislation that will suspend funding for the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program. I stand with thousands of alumni when I say that canceling the program entirely will be devastating for the state, the Department of Education, and, most importantly, thousands of Georgia’s brightest and most talented high school students.
Now we’re left with a final question: How do you solve it? How do you save GHP?
Over 1,800 GHP alumni have signed an online petition. Please sign this petition and contact your local representative to protest cuts in funding for GHP. Do it for the sake of the kids. Do it for the sake of the future.
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138 comments Add your comment
GHP alum
April 22nd, 2010
4:43 pm
Mr. Rearden, please cut out the religious epithets.
T.R.
April 22nd, 2010
4:44 pm
This makes me incredibly sad. I was a GHP participant in communication arts in 1986 and loved every minute of it. It was a summer unlike any other or since. It really gave me room to grow and ways to stretch my mind that a traditional classroom could not. Our class took part in a telephone interview with author Ray Bradbury, I even got to ask him a question. It also gave me maturity and strength I didn’t have yet as a teen.
I am also incredibly sad that Georgia has abandoned its career/technical programs and expects every child to get a liberal arts degree, gives them no other option. Do these folks have any idea what the demand is for plumbers, HVAC techs and automotive specialists? It is HUGE. But that’s apparently not important either. All children are the same, better teach them all the same.
One last thing. When are we going to make some of these overpaid top-level administrators permanently RETIRE and stop hiring them back as consultants at the same salary? Stop the madness!
Fulton County music teacher
April 22nd, 2010
4:45 pm
GA citizenry – please wake up!!! Don’t let GHP – one of the absolute best programs for BRIGHT, DEDICATED, and DESERVED YOUNG LEADERS fall prey to the budget cuts. Why does GA.’s education system have to go down the tubes while Fish for Georgia gets funded? We needs more brains in the state, not good ‘ol boys!
JoeV
April 22nd, 2010
4:47 pm
Not Impressed,
Sounds like sour grapes to me…
professional skeptic
April 22nd, 2010
4:51 pm
MiltonMan, I’m glad your son is going to spend his summer staring down people’s pieholes and telling them to floss more. I mean, that’s fantastic, really. We need dentists.
However, many of us who live outside your narrow little universe believe that the state should, in fact, support its best and brightests students. To ensure America’s continued success (and to prevent its further DECLINE), we should invest MORE in education, not less.
Proud Black Man
April 22nd, 2010
5:21 pm
@ Well, well, well.
“Proud Black Man, I hate to tell you but most of the students in the program didn’t share your skin color.”
You will see PBM shed no tears for this “seg academy.” And your point is…?
DeeDee
April 22nd, 2010
5:22 pm
Dana Kling ~ It was YOUR choice to leave the business world and teach. When you are hired for any job, you know the pay, vacations, etc., upfront! Teaching (and other government jobs) used to be immuned to economy declines, but not any more. Welcome to the REAL WORLD!
professional skeptic
April 22nd, 2010
5:23 pm
Dee
April 22nd, 2010
4:20 pm
Dee, one of the primary differences between America and the Third World is universal access to quality education.
I consider it a patriotic duty to support our schools and our students, so that we can ensure America’s future prosperity.
Do you like the fact that businesses have to import so many foreign professionals these days? Do you like the fact that 47% of tax filers don’t make enough to pay income tax?
If you do, then by all means, keep hacking away at education here in America. Keep taking away opportunities for our young people to grow intellectually and excel. Americans will just keep growing dumber and have fewer employment opportunities, as compared to our foreign competitors who hold education in high regard.
Ole Guy
April 22nd, 2010
5:37 pm
Ms. Wang is to be congratulated, certainly for this excellent letter, and moreover, for the first “voice from the wilderness” which will surely resound within that body which we have come to know as the Georgia Legislature.
Many years ago, though not an enrolled student, I was blessed to have both research privileges within the Yale Law Library, and complete cooperation from an already-taxed faculty, so I am completely aware of the work ethic to which Ms. Downey refers; I am extremely proud that this atmosphere of achievement continues some 20-odd years later.
The sad part of this picture is the “hayseed mentality” those academicians to the North must view as commonplace within that esteemed body of lawmakers in Georgia.
Atlanta mom
April 22nd, 2010
5:39 pm
Wow. I can’t believe it. My husband attended GHP, two of my children attended. It is an amazing program. Mostly for “gifted students”. Certainly they are all serious students. Who voluntarily goes to Valdosta Georgia in the middle of the summer for six weeks? Not the party group. Yes, universities offer programs for bright children. The price tag starts at $4,500 and only go up from there. This state offers so little for the “best and brightest”. How very very sad.
Ole Guy
April 22nd, 2010
5:39 pm
Incidentially, Ms. Wang…good luck and Godspeed in your studies. I know you will be a resounding success.
DecaturDawg
April 22nd, 2010
6:13 pm
Prof skeptic you are talking way too much sense for the selfish pee brains. This requires way too much vision. Investment in the future and society is a concept that is foreign to these and obviously the party in power in this state who are incidentally running it into the ground. They never seem able to correlate the economic declines with the timelines of control of those of these conservative values and the economic recoveries with the timelines of control of the opposition. But Fox News doesn’t allow such truths to be told. When the economy recovers then the focus is on silly social issues like flag burning and gays in the military. It’s all about our national ADD.
Free Market Educator
April 22nd, 2010
6:17 pm
“to provide gifted high school students a summer program of challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year.”
I thought challenging and enriching opportunities are what the so-called “gifted program” provides during the school year. Are you saying that your high school failed in this area?
“It allowed us to veer from the curriculum or rather, design our own.”
By your statements, I concluded that this was a group project.
“By the end of the six weeks, we produced 3 tri-boards, a giant timeline, a brief video, and an architectural model of a mosque and a synagogue, mosque-o-gogue for short. (I’ve attached two pictures of our final report.)”
Your statements are a breathtaking admission of the failure of the government schools! In-depth research on a narrowed topic followed by an audiovisual presentation is standard fare for elementary and middle HOME SCHOOLERS. My nine and twelve year olds each gave a tri-board presentation on the Acropolis and the Hagia Sophia respectively. Both took their own detailed photos of the architecture (we visited these places on a field trip) and constructed models. One child even did a 3D model of a Doric column in Maya and created an original surrealistic neoclassical landscape. By the way, if you mentioned “mosque-o-gogue” around a devout Muslim or Jew while visiting the Middle East, you might want to RUN AND HIDE FOR YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY! You would have highly insulted both groups.
“GHP was the first time I had ever gathered primary sources for any kind of history paper. It was the first time I ever read an academic paper on history. It was the first time I had pursued even the rudiments of independent research.”
Another amazing admission! No primary source documents? Did you previously rely on U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORTS? Have you not heard of the Internet? What is History without primary source documents? My 14 year old does ten-page research papers using primary source documents. While you were trying to solve the “Middle East ” conflict, did you bother to read the Koran or the Bible as primary resources? Of course, with just a quick flip through these books, you’ll have the “problem” solved in a mere two weeks. Oh, but I forgot about SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. I guess you had to cross those resources off your list. My kids have studied the Bible since pre-K. They can quote passages from the King James version. This makes Shakespeare a breeze for them to understand. They’ve also learned a little Latin and Greek. I am glad, however, that you were finally able to do what you should have been taught earlier.
“But if I hadn’t attended GHP, if I hadn’t done the research, if I hadn’t met all these great kids, if I hadn’t been given the opportunity to pursue my wildest interests — I wouldn’t be able to change the world.”
Hmmm. Quite a grandiose statement. Are you saying it only took six weeks at Governor’s Honors to enable you to currently change the world? Does President Obama have your cell #? He needs to know that he might have some competition. And by the way, just what would that “change” be? Currently this nation has a National Debt of $13 TRILLION DOLLARS. We have no change left. In fact, THIS IS WHY THEY DON’T HAVE THE MONEY TO FUND YOUR PRECIOUS PROGRAM! Do our country a favor and research (primary source, of course) the history of the Federal Reserve, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Rockefeller Foundation, and the campaign platform of Andrew Jackson. Then perhaps you will be better informed as to what needs changing.
Hank Rearden
April 22nd, 2010
6:26 pm
“That we shouldn’t force families to prioritize and pay some of the actual cost of educating their children?”
They already do. Taxes 101 anybody?
“That society should give them a pass because if we don’t those children might wind up on assistance or in jail?”
Providing access to quality education is giving those with a crappy home life a ‘pass?’ Me thinks somebody drinks too early and too much…
“Exactly how long do you expect the responsible people in this country to subsidize those who are not?”
As long as they are the ones dying in unjust invasions of other countries. Amazing how they seem responsible enough to do that. But your right, your financial sacrifice is disproportionately unfair to what they give…bless your poor heart..
“Mr. Rearden, please cut out the religious epithets.”
The epithet occurs when the Christian Church sits silent while republicans take education from our kids so they can keep their golf bags full.
Dawg Fan
April 22nd, 2010
6:31 pm
My daughter will be attending GHP this summer in Physics. The thought that this program could be cut breaks my heart. She has been working extra with her teachers after school for two years to increase her chances of being selected for this program. The students selected choose to go to classes six days a week during the summer. They even have classes on the 4th of July. I would be glad to pay for the program, but I think it is a shame that anyone would think that these students do not DESERVE the program. I have worked in education since graduation in 1984. The school systems waste huge amounts of money on things that are not important. We have books, but many teachers choose not to use them and spend money on copies of other materials for their students. Money is spent on remediation for students that could do the work but refuse to do it the first time. We spend money on alternative schools and Saturday schools for students that refuse to behave in the regular classroom.(I am not refering to special ed issues here) I agree with other comments that too much money is being spent on administrative positions. I watch buses leave our school everyday with special ed. students going on field trips. Sometimes a bus will only have two or three students and there will be a bus driver and two or three teachers or parapros as well. I may get flamed for this, but some of these students don’t wake up for the entire trip and it seems like a waste of money to me. My daughter has been in the gifted program since first grade and we still had to let her skip a grade to keep her challenged. I think that GHP is one of the few times in her school career that she will be given an equal education. I call it equal because it equals the effort that she puts into her own education. Our motto for education in Georgia is “no child left behind.” I believe that this statement really means that “no child will get ahead.” These kids are the future of Georgia. So please do not deprive them of their future, and therefore, ours.
Veteran teacher, 2
April 22nd, 2010
6:45 pm
I attended GHP in 1975 as a student, and I was honored to teach there in 1986. I saw no partying going on either time. GHP has always been a star in the crown of the Georgia educational system. Georgia was the first to come up with such a program. Many other states copied the model.
The past three days has made it obvious that the Governor and many of our legislators are convinced that we will do nothing while they loot and force any issue they wish. If we do not force a revolution in the election of November 2, 2010, life as we used to know it is probably over. Is everyone willing to vote the incumbents out?
Maestrodude
April 22nd, 2010
6:52 pm
GHP was and is, without a doubt, a fantastic program and one of the few bright spots in Georgia’s dark tunnel of public education. It is money well spent. It is not an entitlement but rather an investment. Now given, Georgia public education has been limping, but with two feet still on the ground. Now a foot has been cut off. Any State senator who voted to abolish the GHP program AND voted for perks and spending in their own districts during this legislative session should be voted out of office.
1973 GHP Alum
April 22nd, 2010
7:04 pm
GHP changed my life forever. It was an incredible experience that taught me to think differently and showed me that hard work pays great dividends. Without state support, I would have never been able to attend. If we Georgians invested to provide this high level of public education to all our children, we would lead the country and the world.
Emily Chapman
April 22nd, 2010
7:06 pm
I’m a 2007 Communicative Arts major and Greek minor. She’s put it as eloquently as anyone could. GHP was, hands down, the best six weeks of my high school career. It is immensely shortsighted to cut this funding and to remove this opportunity for hundreds of Georgia’s most gifted students.
Emily Chapman
April 22nd, 2010
7:09 pm
@Spacey Yes, many programs like that are offered. Duke TIP stands out. It’s only 3 weeks long and it’s prohibitively expensive for all but upper middle class and wealthy students.
Gwinnett Parent
April 22nd, 2010
8:07 pm
I have to wonder how much money is spent on the student that does not want to learn and how much is spent on the motivated one. Perhaps we should build an account for each student and if they cost more than the average have the parents make up the difference.
Tony
April 22nd, 2010
8:13 pm
Gwinnett Parent, I can’t give exact figures but you have hit one of the nails on the head. Schools are being forced to push more and more resources into the areas that focus on poorly performing students. Since our funding is shrinking, that can only mean one thing – the motivated students are not getting much. And now, the legislators are pulling the plug on one of Georgia’s crown jewels of education.
Disappointed
April 22nd, 2010
9:31 pm
GHP and UGA’s yearbook both face elimination in the same month. This is such a sad statement of where we are at this time in education. As a GHP alum (’93 Comm Arts) and former editor-in-chief of UGA’s Pandora, I am so saddened that future students may not have the opportunity to participate in these programs. The experiences provided by activities such as these change your perspective and foster creativity while offering opportunities far beyond the scope of a traditional classroom education. As a high school math teacher, I hate to see yet another special program end because we can’t find the funding. We are harming the future with these decisions.
Well, well, well
April 22nd, 2010
9:51 pm
Proud Black Man, you contradict yourself just to start racial tensions. From here on out I think it’s best just to ignore you.
Legend of Len Barker
April 22nd, 2010
9:51 pm
I don’t know how the Governor’s Honors program works for students.
I did have contact with it as a college student. I went to Valdosta State, where the kids spent their time. It was a real strain on professors and students because they were usually poorly behaved. More than once, Professor Mensing had to open his classroom door and tell the kids to get quiet.
The library was an absolute mess. If you had anything you needed to research, they were in the way. And loud.
They seemed to think they owned the university. Really. One law student had a GHP student sidle up to him while he was studying. She asked him what he was doing. After he explained, she was shocked that you know, there were college students at a college.
I’m not sure if I’m for or against the program. Based on what I saw of their curriculum, I was against it. Granted, it was very small bits and pieces and it is clouded by seeing them misbehave.
Should we do what we can to motivate students? Absolutely. Should we reach out more to the kids eager learn? Absolutely.
Was the Governor’s Honors Program the ideal way of doing it? Perhaps not. At least not with the maturity level of the kids and the seeming lack of supervision.
Mom of daughters
April 22nd, 2010
9:59 pm
As the mother of two elementary school age daughters (once public school students, now in private school), I thought Annie’s letter was well written, however I was completely taken aback that this was the first time “I had ever gathered primary sources for any kind of history paper. It was the first time I ever read an academic paper on history. It was the first time I had pursued even the rudiments of independent research.”
This is the kind of basic academic work that should be started in elementary school….and is started in public elementary school in the higher academic performing states. I could see the lack of critical thinking skills and basic academic preparedness rearing it’s head in public lower elementary school over the last few years (North Fulton), and so my husband and I pinched pennies, took on additional work, scrimped and saved to move our daughters into a private school this year where a critical thinking approach is standard starting as early as 3rd grade.
I can’t believe how our daughters have blossomed this year, and how many fabulous research projects they have done in one academic year (3rd & 5th grade) requiring primary research, tri-boards, critical thinking, writing of research papers, and oral presentation of final products. It completely opened my eyes to what they were missing being taught to take standardized tests with virtually no writing skills, nor critical thinking skills at all (both girls were in TAG – which seemed pretty worthless to me).
Public education in Georgia is fundamentally flawed and needs to be fixed before it’s too late. How could Annie have made it all the way through a Georgia public high school without ever having learned these basic skills???
oldtimer
April 22nd, 2010
10:01 pm
Gwinnett Parent..I agree with you. I get upset about the cuts to the best and brightest..This includes band and other arts based programs.
Buffy Wentworth
April 22nd, 2010
10:15 pm
to mom of daughters
i soooo much agree with you. i caint wait untill this school year is over. i am sooo excited about teaching in a private school!!!
Cobb Parent
April 22nd, 2010
10:38 pm
I am very familiar with Walton as my son is currently a senior at the school. Mom of two daughters, I can assure you that students there do plenty of primary research and academic reading prior to graduating. As an illustration, my son’s senior paper was a 15 page paper on the destructive role of society in The Metamorphosis. His history books, are the same as the books read at the University of Chicago intro level classes so I would imagine they qualify as academic reading.
So from what I’ve seen, I doubt that Annie or my son (who will be attending a different ivy league school this fall) would have been admitted to a school of Yale’s caliber if they were found to be lacking, as you said, these “basic skills.” Other than that, I do agree with your other points.
Ole Guy
April 22nd, 2010
10:58 pm
Well cubed: you just figuring out that tactic?
Gwinnett Parent: You have just touched onto an arguement to which I have long ascribed. It is no secret that QUALITY public education is no longer the right of every kid. The motivated kids, the ones who, despite the distractions of the less-inclined, are denied…robbed is more appropriate…this right. Consequently, the mere presence of those who fail to achieve a modicum of academic discipline in the classroom greatly contribute to a lose-lose situation…the motivated kid loses; (by way of wasted monies, “failed” school systems, a highly demoralized teacher corps, and lost future assets represented by the adults who present high probabilities of becoming added social burdens rather than contributors) the taxpayer loses.
Inasmuch as kids are legally able to quite school at an age prior to that of normal graduation (I believe at around 16 yoa), the legislature should pass a law by which those students whose behavior clearly demonstrates, through the first 10 years of public school attendance, that they lack the motivation to apply themselves to any acceptable standard, be removed from publically-funded education. The benefits of cost-saving (something which esteemed legislators favorably recognize) and, for those who WANT an education, enhanced effectivity of those last years of high school…to include the retention of The GHP.
To imagine that this highly vaunted program might be scrubbed so that just one unmotivated, undisciplined student might remain as nothing more than an impediment to those who want to make something of themselves is completely unconscionable.
The former president’s NCLB initiative has been shown to be nothing but a dismal failure. Continuation of this foolhardy notion will only waste countless billions on top of the already wasted/mis-spent public monies, not to mention the added burdens upon those who want to be successful.
Soc Stud 79
April 22nd, 2010
11:14 pm
That this cut is even being considered is a shame on the state.
That’s not AJC blog hyperbole, either.
Gwinnett Teacher
April 22nd, 2010
11:43 pm
Wow, whoever taught this girl taught her well. I would be thrilled if our high school graduates could turn out papers of this caliber.
Free Market Educator
April 22nd, 2010
11:46 pm
Ann Coulter makes mincemeat out of “news reader” Rachel Maddow’s Timothy McVeigh rant. It seems Ann Coulter understands the value of primary source documents. Perhaps she’s a GHP grad?
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=143813
GHP Alum
April 22nd, 2010
11:49 pm
The point of GHP is that Georgia high schools do not all *have* good gifted programs. GHP is a quick way to bypass the limitations of your school district (note: not everybody lives in Atlanta!) and get some much-needed intellectual encouragement.
Richard
April 22nd, 2010
11:50 pm
As a Soc Stud in ‘85, I have to echo the sentiments Annie’s letter. The impact of this program on my own development as a person and a student was enormous, and it was through this program that I learned to be a leader and gain confidence as a student. I believe it is the same benefit to this group of students each year as football practice and games are to athletes. Why cut one and not the other? It allows students who excel in academics the chance to be surrounded by other students with similar interests and skills, and they are able to develop those skills with some of the best teachers in the state. It is done during the summer, when most students are vacationing or at home for the break, and their devotion should be encouraged and rewarded, not denied. Our state will suffer greatly if this program ends.
GHP Alum
April 22nd, 2010
11:50 pm
Rearden, nobody but you is talking about “Republican Christian.” Stop trying to stir up religious prejudice.
GHP Math Major 07
April 23rd, 2010
12:53 am
I would have been unable to attend GHP if it had cost money.
I come from a rural area where I only was offered one AP class. GHP gave an introduction to so many things my school never would have had the chance to share with me.
I’ll agree that many who attended would have been able to afford it, but for those of us who couldn’t, the idea of charging money for it is sad. I like the idea of need-based scholarships, however. I understand budget cuts; I just think cutting it completely shows a lack of understanding for how powerful the program is. Perhaps our senators could find a compromise. I also wonder if this wouldn’t be a great chance to have all the successful GHP alumni donate to a fund. I can’t base it on fact, but I feel like most GHP alumni are successful and would be able to donate.
Ernest
April 23rd, 2010
6:11 am
Life Changing Experience….
That’s how my son, a GHP 2008 SocStud described his experience. As a parent, I truly saw a different person after his experience in Valdosta. I agree with many of the comments made regarding the ‘intellectual stimulation’ that many of our children received over the years from this program. Cutting this program would be a tremendous loss for our state.
I mentioned this article to my son and glad to say he already heard of it. It seems many of his fellow GHPers and engaging in a letter writing campaign advocating for continuing this invaluable program. I’m glad to see our young people remaining engaged and wanting to ensure future high school students have the same type of opportunities by of attending GHP such as they did.
God Bless the Teacher!
April 23rd, 2010
7:19 am
Free Market Educator – I hope your children don’t grow up to be as bitter and narrow minded as you. They’re leading a life of privilege and may have difficulty adjusting to the real world if they take on your attitude and forget that folks who eat from plastic spoons instead of silver spoons have as much to contribute to society even if they didn’t do tri-board presentations about things abroad. Why didn’t you take your cherubs to some place like Harlem and have them do presentations on something related to black history? Just saying…
DeeDee – You’re probably the type to park your SUV in a handicapped spot even though you may not be handicapped (sorry if you are, but you seem to be the type). That, or you eat at Fellini’s (see past blog regarding said eatery).
John – School athletic programs get gate money (true), but the salaries for coaches and funding for the facilities come from tax payer money. Unless a sport has an outstanding booster program, the school usually “finds some way” to cover the overall losses of the athletics program. Principals have an account funded by vending machines and other school fund raisers that can be used to fill in financial gaps. Unfortunately, many times this fund is used for athletics instead of academic related things.
I went to GHP in 1980 as a voice performance major. My high school did not have a choral program. My only formal exposure to choral music (participating) was through church. Through the classes I took and the people with whom I interacted, I was able to fill a major gap in my life. Though Valdosta was only an hour away from my hometown, the GHP experience was worlds away from a culture that valued sports and hunting over academics and performing arts. I’m disappointed, once again, that Sonny and his ilk have found yet another way to destroy an outstanding educational opportunities for our students. Also, teachers who teach at GHP have the opportunity to work with advanced students who aren’t suffering from being in mixed ability classes, and they get to grow professionally and take what they’ve experienced back to their schools to help enrich the lives of their students.
Tweets that mention AJC's "Get Schooled" shares a blog post from a GHP07 SocStud now at Yale. Worth reading. -- Topsy.com
April 23rd, 2010
7:43 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Austin Jenkins. Austin Jenkins said: AJC's "Get Schooled" shares a blog post from a GHP07 SocStud now at Yale. Worth reading. http://shar.es/m788f [...]
Julie
April 23rd, 2010
9:05 am
It seems like those at the Gold Dome are jumping from one line item to another, if enough rallying is done, or enough calls are made, it goes right back in. I would like to see the whole budget. What fluff is still in there? Certainly, they can weed some money out of something else. The sad reality is that in order to balance this budget, something has to be cut. The other fact is… unemployment is up, revenue is down. I think cutting education, whether you agree with it or not, is going to hurt our state long term. Is our education system the best, not by a long shot. GH is a program that has a long track record, and data to show that it works. Why cut it? There have got to be line items that can’t show the same. We are already at the bottom of the list, cutting this quality program, that is already running smoothly, efficiently is ridiculous, especially considering upstarting something new like Pay for Performance.
James
April 23rd, 2010
9:34 am
@God Bless the Teacher! & Others – GHP sounds like a wonderful program. Really it does. However we have one small problem – state revenue (taxes) is less than it used to be. There are two choices – either cut spending or increase taxation levels at the state. Our electorate has pretty much rebelled against further taxation so it has been decided to cut spending across the board in all areas of government spending. GHP is being cut because there isn’t enough funding to pay for it. It’s a shame; but when state tax revenue comes back then we can certainly reinstate it.
Batgirl
April 23rd, 2010
10:20 am
My sister taught at GHP for 2-3 years. She says that it was the best experience of her teaching career. I think she cried every year when she had to leave. The bright, talented, motivated, energetic kids and top notch teachers who speak, write and think well and behavior professionally made it a wonderful experience for her as I’m sure it does for all who participate.
It’s terribly sad that our governor and legislators cannot see the value of investing in our best and brightest students and teachers. Their stupidity (gov. & legs.) seems to know no limit.
It may be true that many of the students’ families could afford to pay for such an experience, some cannot. Can you imagine what GHP would be like for a bright kid with a crappy home life whose parents place no value on education? It would probably be his/her last, best chance to see greater possibilities.
catlady
April 23rd, 2010
10:48 am
John, so let’s let those sports programs buy the land and build the buildings so they really do “support themselves.” Let them hire the coaches and pay them to “teach”. Until the sports programs do THAT, they ARE operating on my dime!
catlady
April 23rd, 2010
10:53 am
Perhaps some of the great companies that hire workers who have to go on Peachcare could donate money to sponsor some GHP students! Perhaps some that get great tax cuts to locate here could sponsor some kids! Maybe some of our legislators that claim that exhorbitant per diem could sponsor some kids!
Monica
April 23rd, 2010
10:56 am
mom of daughters, how exactly do tri-boards demonstrate research and critical thinking? If anything, at the elementary level they illustrate which moms are scrapbookers and which ones aren’t. I can teach both of these skills without the use of expensive displays.
What primary sources should schools be able to offer their students?
Maureen Downey
April 23rd, 2010
11:03 am
On Governor’s Honors: I do think parents who could afford it would gladly pay, but I think there are many Georgia students who could not afford a summer-long enrichment program. Those of you who have sent your children to the Duke program can attest to the high costs.
I have been impressed with the many notes – including one this morning from a Harvard educated lawyer who was the first in his family to go to college – who said it was Governor’s Honors that led him to believe he could go to college and do great things. That is an incredible testimony to the power of these programs.
Jeff (Ex. MGT '85)
April 23rd, 2010
11:18 am
Maureen: Thanks for bringing this to our attention. GHP was a great awakening for me and my peers and is one of the small parts of our educational institution that works.
Old School
April 23rd, 2010
12:12 pm
Jeff (Ex.MGT ‘85), I was the Design instructor from ‘85 to ‘90 (and an additional few years after that). Was your instructor Christie Clemenshaw?
Ole Guy
April 23rd, 2010
12:27 pm
Jeff, the reason this program works is due to the fact that it’s exclusive nature…only the truly motivated need apply. If the entire public ed system could adopt this standard, we, as a Country, would be lightyears from our current position of social and economic mediocrity.
Inasmuch as their are multi-tracks of academic pursuit, their should be one more additional “track”…let us call it the “loser track”. Those kids, posing as students, who consistently demonstrate, not only a lack of desire to learn, but also an impediment to those who wish to learn, should be rejected from tax-funded public ed.
I have always argued that, despite any glowing economic environment, there will always be need for the less-than-optimaly educated. This action, while “freeing up” the “student imposters” would create an educational system worthy of the best upon the planet. Best of all, it would cost NOTHING…in fact, the ed systems could probably function for a fraction of the current budgets.