Failure To Pass

May 19, 2009|IFONIA JEAN

Imagine ... it's your senior year, and you've done just about everything to make it memorable: Homecoming, Senior Skip Day (is that still around?) Grad Nite, and Prom - everything except pass the FCAT. As a result, you can't be a part of graduation ceremonies, which is supposed to be the ultimate highlight of your last year in high school. This is the harsh reality for 2,139 high school seniors in Broward County, who failed the FCAT after their second and/or third attempt.

According to the Broward County School Board, students must pass the 10th-grade reading and math exams to receive a diploma. If a student fails after retaking the test up to three times, they must achieve a certain minimum score on the SAT or ACT to get into college. Unfortunately for the seniors who failed, not only must they wait even longer for another retake since the state canceled the summer FCATs, but obviously they can't get into college without a diploma.

I must say that knowing this makes me feel very fortunate to have passed my test the first time around, given that it was the HSCT (High School Competency Test) and not the FCAT. However, I felt bad for the students in my class, including some of my friends, who failed. Even after numerous attempts, they still couldn't get a passing score. Some of them gave up and, in the process, lost their motivation to go to college. I think I might have done the same if after three years from my initial graduation date, I still could not pass the test.

I am not saying that this will be the case for these present-day seniors, but it could be. To be honest, nothing can be worse than knowing that a lot of your friends are halfway done with college while you are still trying to close the last chapter of high school. For 13 years, I attended school with the same crowd of people, from elementary to high school. Subsequently, there was this notion that we would start and finish college at the same time, even though there was the reality that everyone would head off in a different direction after high school. Yet, we knew we'd be keeping in touch to share our college and/or life experiences and to keep tabs on who would finish first, if not at the same time.

I wasn't able to finish college in four years (due to unforeseen circumstances), but some of my friends did, and a few have just started college (they finally passed the HSCT)! So for all of those seniors who failed the FCAT, I hope they don't lose hope. Failing is not the end; it's just a minor setback to your eventual passing the grade. So keep trying, and aim high - in your scores and in your future endeavors!


Parkway Middle School of the Performing Arts students recently won the third annual Juried Art Show. The participants were judged for originality, creativity and technical quality.

Prizes were awarded in five categories: painting, sculpture, ceramics, drawing and mixed media. Third-place winners were awarded $50, second-place winners were awarded $75 and first-place winners received $100.

The winners for ceramics were: Third place, Eugene Harvey; second place, Shanice Joseph; and first place, Dennis Brown.

For drawing, the winners were: third place, Dionisio Blanco; second place, Jasmine Long; and first place, Kanarie Townsend.

The winners for painting were: third place, Victoria Monaco; second place, Samuel Sweezer; and first place, Kiana Watson.

For mixed media, the winners were: third place, Whitney Love; second place, Winsome Mondesir; and first place, Kanarie Townsend.

The winners for sculpture were: third place, Deon Mash; second place, Dionisio Blanco; and first place, Kameilah McKie.

Best of show went to Kameilah McKie. Special mention went to Dionisio Blanco for being strong in various categories.

The students' work will be featured at the African American Research Library, located at 2650 Sistrunk Blvd., in Fort Lauderdale throughout May.

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