Editor's Note: The following check-list appeared In the February Issue
of SEVENTEEN magazine. Rate Grady against the best.
You're In A Good School If ...
1. Teachers don't tell you that you have to study this or that to get into
college or get a job.
2. In class discussion, you have to be prepared to defend what you say, not only against the teacher but also against others in the class.
3. At least some of your teachers start off in September by telling you they're going to teach differently this year because of something they learned during the summer.
4. You work with library books and paperbacks as well as with textbooks and an encyclopedia.
5. You can at least get library books for use during study halls, so the time can be used for something other than doing assignments and whispering.
6. Both libraries and labs are open for at least an hour after school closes, in case you want to use them.
7. Student government has an honest say in how the school handles discipline, social events, sports, clubs; the school paper is free to comment on happenings outside the classroom, including politics; the drama club chooses its own plays.
8. Night basketball games are held only on weekends.
9. On exams, you are asked to write about something you have studied or to work out problems your own way -- not just pick out an answer.
10. The English teacher lets you choose your own composition subjects, and every once in a while asks you why you use long words when short ones would do; teachers other than the English teacher talk to you about how well or how poorly you write a paper or an exam.
11. Whenever there's a television show or magazine article or new book that touches on something that interests you, somebody at school suggests that you take a look at it, as part of your work.
12. Every one of your teachers--and at least one person in the principal's office--knows your name, and who you are, and how well you're doing.
Begin Again This Spring
Spring is approaching on steady feet and it is good to see it come.
This is the season of beginnings, and beginnings are much preferred to endings. New greenery, new flowers, new birds, and long new days are ahead of us. People, like seasons, can be good and bad, warm and cold.
People also create beginnings. A person who is working on a project is a happy person. A new beginning always changes the outlook.
IMPROVEMENTS
Grady students can join in this seasonal change by making some improvements
around the school. Begin to pick up trash that litters our halls and campus.
Begin to be more careful in keeping the cafeteria and snack bar clean. Begin
to be responsible for your duties -- class, club, or individual. Begin to
leave off making excuses. Begin to show more school spirit toward spring
sports. The baseball and track teams need school support, as do the golf,
rifle, tennis, and cross- country teams.
Above all, begin each new day with a smile and a happy heart. You can't fail when you have the right attitude, and a smile will make a long day pass quickly better than anything.