Here in Pelham, every kid is a genius. Or at least, that’s what the school district tells us. Every quarter, Pelham Memorial High School releases a list of every student who meets the current standards for either honor roll or high honor roll. This previous quarter, 584 students qualified for the high honor roll and 75 qualified for the honor roll for a grand total of 659 students. This number accounts for more than seven in 10 students in the high school, exactly 72.1 percent of the student body. Not to mention, each student who makes the honor roll has their full name released for public consumption. Thanks to the sheer number of students who make these lists and the fact that their names are inappropriately released, honor rolls in Pelham have overstayed their welcome and must be ended.

The first major issue with the current state of our honor rolls is the loose standards which result in the majority of the student body making the list. The current qualifications according to the PMHS website are a 90 percent unweighted average with no grade below 75 for high honor roll, and an 85 percent average with no grades below 75 for honor roll. While those qualifications might appear demanding, the fact that nearly 75 percent of the student body meets them proves that they aren’t. How is it honorable to make a list with nearly every one of your peers? Effectively, there is no point in awarding such an honor if it includes nearly everyone. It’s the same as giving participation trophies to every team that makes the second round in March Madness; utterly pointless and helpful to no one. Or, if it’s not a participation trophy, it’s a glaring example of how easy grading is in Pelham schools today. If Pelham is the type of school district to give every student a 90, then perhaps the honor roll should reflect that with a new standard of 95.  

Additionally, it is important to take note of the fact that students in Pelham take a wide variety of classes. One student may take no APs or honors classes while another may take three or more, though they could be members of the same grade. An AP level student may have an 88 unweighted average and a 92 weighted, while a Regents level student may have a 95 unweighted and weighted average. One student may be scoring higher; however, that does not accurately reflect how much work is involved and how complex the curricula of those advanced classes are. Students who excel in non-advanced classes deserve recognition, but this current system shows no way of distinguishing between which students are members of advances classes versus non-advanced. The current honor roll uses unweighted averages versus weighted averages, which add point compensation to reflect the rigor of advanced classes. This is simply not right. Students who take harder classes deserve recognition for their achievement.

The final major problem with the current state of the honor roll is the lack of discretion regarding the release of names. Typically, members of the administration and teaching staff strongly advise students against talking about or comparing each other’s grades. By releasing names, that is exactly what ends up happening. This list tells us which students have higher grades and, by omission, which have lower grades. It simply does not adhere to the school’s policy of grade discretion. How can the district expect students to not share grades when they do just that district-wide every quarter? It is hypocritical.

While recognizing student achievement in and of itself isn’t an issue, the current way we go about it in Pelham is flawed. PMHS allows nearly three out of every four students on the honor rolls, doesn’t take into account the level and rigor of classes and publishes the names of those who make the list, thus implying the grades of certain students. This system does not effectively go about honoring students for their work, and until the district makes serious changes to the way it goes about doing the honor rolls, it must end.