Black Olives

Grandma always brought the black olives. But last Tuesday at breakfast there were no black olives. Only an egg/potato casserole, pastries, fruit, orange juice and milk.
And some coffee I was told could dissolve spoons.
Principal Mike Elliott presided over a recognition event for four students, parents of those students, teaching staff and administrators. At 7 in the morning, no less.
As Mr. Elliott pointed out, over 1.5 million students across the country are involved in the initial assessment/testing (PSAT) for National Merit scholars. It is an honor for any school to have one student recognized. And here we were with four. There are various levels of recognition and these four are on the course.
The breakfast was held in the library at the high school. Fitting enough for such an event as just outside the doors to the library is a large glass case similar to those outside the gymnasium recognizing sports figures. But this case has a series of pictures of Marietta High School graduates of note who have achieved success in various endeavors beyond school. It’s worth the visit. Quite a display.
Recent weeks have seen a discussion among board and administrators about support of activities beyond the obvious, sports and band and what we do for gifted students. Turns out we do quite a lot. But as with sports and band, none of the activities could be conducted without input (Time help and money) from parents and the community.
Our Gifted Services Coordinator, Tangie Rumbold provided a brief overview of some of what is provided for identified students. The district pays supplemental contracts for teachers who are responsible for Science Olympiad, Future Problem Solving, and Power of the Pen/Pencil. The district also pays for all transportation for the events where travel is involved (Model UN, Future Problem Solving State Bowl, Science Olympiad, Power of the Pen State Bowl). Both the middle and high school principals (from their principal account) provide funding for various activities which involve their identified students.
As with sports and band there are other fees for hotel and meals not covered by the monies the district provides. There are also monies to provide scholarships for those unable to afford the entire fees. We hope that no student who wants to participate is excluded for financial reasons.
One board member held forth that we are not so much an academic institution as a learning institution and as such we provide a wide variety of activities which all involve learning and reach out to the community in various ways and provide experiences for students. Admittedly not much income is derived selling popcorn at spelling bees and science fairs, but there are other means of support for such activities.
I took advantage of being at the school to wander around and take in some of the wall posters about other activities. Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) listed a series of activities that included dog walking. Who knew?
The November issue of The Original school newspaper covered recent stock market chaos as well as students involved in the local community theater production of ‘A Christmas Carol.’