I feel this needs to be said...(Grades & FIRST Dedication)

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

As a matter of fact, I'll go out on a limb and opine that if there's one worst thing that a team can do, it's preventing students from going to competitions, because of their marks. It seems foolish, to me, to expect that by leaving them at school for the three days that they would miss, they will somehow take the opportunity to correct whatever caused their low marks. When you think about it, it means that a left-behind student has to accept the fact that they're not being permitted to go, not because of their actions as a member of the team, but because of something unrelated.

I would have agreed with you several years ago, but over the years there have been students who were not allowed to travel with the team because of low grades, or attendance issues

and you are right, they may not go back and fix their grade problem the next week, but students who went through this have come back a year or two later and said that this was the best thing that ever happened to them.

In the real world there are concequences for your actions. You dont follow the rules, you dont keep up your end of the deal, and you will suffer for it - lost jobs, lost relationships, flunking out of college, lost opportunities...

The rules should be spelled out clearly: if your grades fall below a set level (for any reason) you cannot travel with the team. If you fail any courses you are off the team for the rest of the year. And then the rules should be enforced.

What good is it to teach students the laws of physics, engineering principles, science and technology, but not to teach them the equally fixed laws of personal responsibility and cause/effect relationships?