The Governor’s Citizenship Award
Every year, the Governor’s Citizenship Award program honors one student from each participating school for outstanding service, leadership, responsibility, character, and discipline.
This year, I was extremely proud to see my daughter, Hannah, win this year’s award for Woodruff High School. I also want to congratulate Patrick Tate Roebuck for winning the Governor’s Citizenship Award for Dorman High School.
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Keith,
Thanks for returning my call today. Congratulations on Hannah’s award, but I have to say it does not surprise me one bit. All three of your girls are precious.
As a teacher I want to speak to our apparently dismal high school graduation rate. However, I take issue with some facts I have not heard mentioned anywhere else. Perhaps you all as legislators do know, but I would like to be sure so that when decisions are made to help, this information is considered.
I teach a very diverse group of children at Byrnes High School. Half are special needs children who will receive a diploma and may even be gifted. These students include children with autism and emotional disabilities. The other half are part of our alternative diploma program. These children must earn units toward this diploma as outlined in a very specific curriculum. They must also participate in paid and unpaid internships before they graduate with the district alternative diploma. When they graduate, they have a job and leave high school as contributing members of society.
These children are not in an alternative diploma program because of an ineffective system, but because they were born without the same abilities that your children or mine have. In spite of that, they work hard to take another route to success. Herein lies the problem. I could have a student who has perfect attendance for 12 years of school, who has met all the criteria for the alternative diploma, and who has a job before graduating from high school. However in the eyes of our state, that child is a DROP-OUT! Regardless of how hard they work and how succesful they become using the abilities God gave them - they are deemed unsuccessful and have a negative effect on all of the educational statistics of South Carolina. As long as this is true, comparing our schools to states who do not use this method is like comparing apples and oranges.
When the opportunity arises I hope that you will be the voice of these special needs children who are very successful and restore their dignity and that of their families. The bonus is that it will change our drop-out rate dramatically.
Miriam Patton NBCT 2002
Special Education Teacher
James F. Byrnes High School