Gosh, I feel like I’ve thrown some shade just from the title of this post. Not true at all.
Chelsea Ha went to North High School for a little over a semester in her sophomore year (she came late), all of her junior year, and 5 days of senior year. She checked out yesterday. I don’t know any of the particulars, have no idea what school she’ll be attending in the future, or if this was just some move that had to be made and she’s actually working her way back to North High. But it doesn’t matter.
She was never my student, though she should have been. Simple story–when she came to school she got put into my wife’s speech class, which does not get many sophomores. My wife quickly put together that Chelsea was pretty talented and told her counselor to put her into Honors English, which I teach. Her counselor was also quick to note that Chelsea had not received all A’s at her previous school(s) and by not moving her into my class she was doing me a favor by keeping my workload down and keeping Chelsea at a level where the counselor had figured she belonged. Never mind that my wife had taught at North for 20 years, had classes of Honors and AP English and was the GATE coordinator for years. A quick scan of some C’s at some other school was the deciding factor, and it’s not like Honors English is the end-all/be-all.
Last year, as a junior, she took AP Language and got a 5 on the test (that’s the highest score you can get). But that was not her biggest achievement. In November she got to go back to New York to participate in the annual TED Youth Conference. She was one of five high school students who got to do this. IN THE WORLD. My wife had her in Speech, recorded her speeches (as she recorded everyone’s), sent them in to TED, and TED picked her to speak at their event. One of five in the world. TED flew her and her family back to New York for the extended weekend, all expenses paid. They flew my wife out and gave her a room, but it was just her.
Chelsea spoke, got to see New York, hung out with others in the TED world–my wife got to participate with other educators and learn new things and be immersed in a world of innovation and cutting-edge technology.
And, yeah, my wife still is a big deal with TED. She went to Banff this summer for TED Summit and now can host TEDx events. Chelsea is featured on TED’s YouTube channel and her image sometimes comes up when I’m searching for things TED. There might be more that she has going, but TED Youth was a big deal, it was a big deal that she was one of five picked, and that she came from just some old public high school in Torrance.
There may have been some recognition for Chelsea long after the fact on our daily bulletin, but that’s not the recognition you want (you can search NHS bulletin on YouTube and make up your own minds). My wife sent numerous emails to our administration singing Chelsea’s praises and what a positive moment this was for her and the school. None of those emails were returned. One in five in the world equalled no response from administration.
I asked Chelsea at the end of last year if the school had done anything to acknowledge her achievement, something that no one else in our area has ever done. Did they roll out any carpet? give her a lunch with the bigwigs in the district? make a plaque? trophy? Surely they used her in photo-ops to make themselves look good.
She said the principal saw her in passing in the office and shook her hand. Nothing else.
And so, Chelsea is gone. She could not say goodbye to my wife because she is gone, too.
As Vonnegut would write–so it goes.