This is pretty awesome.
What better way to celebrate a class’s graduation from high school than to point out that two-thirds of the graduates are morons? That’s what Volusia County, Florida, School Board Chairwoman Linda Costello decided to do during her commencement speech. The best part is that she seems genuinely surprised that much of the audience didn’t appreciate the sentiment.
Costello said by phone she regrets including part of a short speech that offended many of the nearly 400 graduates and their families. She said she didn’t realize she had erred until Monday morning when she received a handful of emails from people who were upset.
“Speaking of who you are as a class, you are smart. More than one-third of you are graduating with distinguished honors,” Costello told the group Sunday afternoon at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.
She paused for a moment as the room erupted in applause. But her audience was silent after the next line: “The rest of you underperformed.”
Yeah, yeah, I know that a lot of these kids really applied themselves and did they best they could and still did not get any distinguished honors for their efforts. But the important thing is not to let the slackers celebrate four years of unfocused teenage angst and misplaced priorities. It’s like, “Okay, here’s your diploma, congratulations on doing the bare minimum. Good luck in life, losers.”
And, of course, the appropriate reply is, “Look! Here is me, applying myself!”
Nicely played, Ms. Costello.
Nicely played.
Yes, if you’d all worked really hard, all of you could have ended up in the top third of the class.
You could learn that by applying yourself in math.
Was this graduation in Lake Woebegone?
Proving once again, Mark twain’s contention that there is nothing more stupid than a school board.
Ya’ think???
That’s what Volusia County, Florida, School Board Chairwoman Linda Costello decided to do during her commencement speech.
A school board chair speaking as HS graduation speaker? Is there anyone more boring to speak at such a thing? I had a US Representative(later Governor and convicted criminal!!) speak at mine and most people were bored out of their mind.
Blago?
No, John Rowland.
And of course, this is possible.
Depends on how you calculate the average.
This is exactly why someone should read and approve all speeches. They do it for high school kids, to stop them from outing themselves, thanking Chesus, or telling everyone that guns are good. It appears that they should do it for school board members as well.
Having gone to law school at night while working a full time job during the day for a period of 4 years, I can say that I am a proud underperformer. No top third for me. It was a feat just to get through it all and pass the bar exam on my first try. But I did somehow. Sometimes intervening factors to are not immediately apparent. Fuck you is right.
The stamina and grit you showed are better than academic honors. And I speak as one who has those honors.
Does this administrator really need to point out the low achievement of some of the graduating class? Graduation ceremonies are about the graduates, and wishing them well. Not to debate educational standards.
http://www.guaranteedrate.com/JoeAlmirantearena
The Chairman of the School Board thinks that everyone in a class is supposed to receive honors? I thought honors were supposed to be reserved for top performers. To give honors to even a third of the class is to debase “honors.” It’s supposed to be maybe the top 5%; at most 10%. And the Chairman of the School Board is so pig ignorant she doesn’t know this? Mark Twain was right, “First God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards.”