THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 6, 1995 TAG: 9501050075
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E13 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
WE RECEIVED MIXED voices on our question of the week: ``Are students getting enough academics in school? Is the important stuff being squeezed out by driver's ed, sex education, etc.?''
They have too many required courses because right now, I'm planning on taking three years of math in summer school because I have to take things like P.E. and English, required, and I really don't need these things. It's going to be real tough getting these classes in the summer for my career. I'm an astronomer and I really don't need P.E. - Jennifer Hudson, 14, ninth-grader at Bayside High School.
I think that most of our academics are taken up by driver's ed and sex ed. I think we should have more math, English and social studies. - Shawntay Hodges, 17, Norview High School.
I don't believe the question is whether students are getting enough academics, I think it's whether or not the teachers are implementing a regular course load. I took advance-placement calculus in high school and came out of it with a B for the year. I'm now a junior at Old Dominion University, but when I entered ODU, I had to retake trig because my mathematics skills were not up to par with what they felt a calculus level student should have. And I think teachers are afraid to put in hard enough work for fear that their students will fail. - Carrie Moore, 19, Old Dominion University.
I think the academics are well, but I don't think enough students take the classes. If I knew that I would need the higher math in college, I would have taken them. The counselors need to stress that more. - Jan Dancy, Hampton University. by CNB