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THanks
to the Staff of the
N.A. Middle School
Tom Duggan
(05/07/07)
When I thought of my daughter Hanna Porten advancing from
5th grade at the Thomson School to 6th grade at the North
Andover Middle School (NAMS), the last thing I was
thinking about was grade inflation.
I was more concerned about issues relating to the
transition, like bullying, peer pressure and the
awkwardness pre-teens face when starting a new school.
Those are the issues that I remember from my own junior
high experience.
Much to my relief and surprise, and to the credit of the
NAMS teachers, principal and assistant
principals, Hanna transitioned into middle school without
any problems at all. In fact, I watched her and her
friends grow from playful, young 5th graders into proud,
confident and mature young girls eager to further their
educational experience. None of which I remember from my
own experience at junior high. It was very impressive and
very exciting to see.
What I did not see, was any bullying or peer
pressure. No one has asked Hanna if she would like
to try a cigarette or experiment with drugs. Hanna and
her friends are also more interested in their grades than
in boys. This is another credit to their teachers, the
staff and the administration at NAMS because the kids are
enjoying school and are eager to learn.
To her own credit, Hanna has made high honors. She is one
of those students that the School Committee is concerned
because her grades may be inflated. Well, I see first
hand that Hanna works extremely hard, spending hours
after school doing her homework and meticulously studies
for her tests. She takes her grades very seriously and
thrives on achieving.
Hanna averages three tests and quizzes each week and she
studies hard for each one of them. I have seen her
memorize all of the African and Asian countries, their
rivers, weather and social influences and the
different cultures each experience. She has learned all
the parts of a biological cell and I believe that she
knows everything about Darwin and natural selection.
The tests Hanna takes are very challenging and difficult,
yet Hanna still gets As on all of them. She has
earned those high honor grades through hard work and
per-severance. She does complain, though, that math
is too easy and that her Spanish class was a joke (with
dancing the Marange and watching The Land Before
Time in Spanish. Her teacher also played
Daddy Yankee (a rapper with a reputation you
would not want your 5th grader to know about) in the
classroom. Unfortunately, Hanna did not learn much of the
Spanish language.
Hanna transitioned amazingly well into middle school,
maintaining good grades and getting involved in
after-school activities. Hanna was involved in the
6th grade play and is now on the volleyball team through
the North Andover Booster Club. If Hannas friends
work as hard as she does, then they have earned those
inflated grades as well.
Thank you to Mrs. Poor and Mr. Wrigley and the rest of
the middle school staff for making Hannas 6th grade
experience a positive one.
You can email Tom Duggan at
valleypatriot@aol.com
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The MAY 2007 Edition of
the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
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All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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