Up & Coming Weekly

4 UCW NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 1, 2009 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER Bill Bowman bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Kirkpatrick editor@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Tabitha Kidd tabitha@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE MANAGER Suzy Patterson suzy@upandcomingweekly.com –––––––––––––– GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Soni Martin, D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, Bob Cogswell, John Hood, Shanessa Fenner, Erinn Crider, Shannen Dill, Karen Poppele, Takeema Hoffman –––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and infor- mation on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per per- son. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. STAFF Internet Directory ............................ 12 Calendar ........................................... 18 Concert Connection ........................ 24 TV ..................................................... 26 Movie Review .................................. 28 Movie Schedule ............................... 29 Free Wheelin' Feelin' ....................... 30 News of the Weird ........................... 31 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 31 Classifieds ........................................ 32 Games .............................................. 34 Dining Guide .................................... 35 INSIDE Making the Grade by JANICE BURTON JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher We welcome your comments, please e-mail them to Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN As have many in the community, I have followed the grade-fi xing saga at Terry Sanford with a lot of interest. What I've read over the past weeks has deeply disturbed me on a lot of different levels. When I read that people within the Cumberland County Schools System said that changing grades was a widespread practice throughout the system, I was re- ally disturbed. We've all read about athletes who play professional sports who can't read. We've heard the stories of these athletes making millions — and losing millions — because they didn't understand what they needed to do with the money and they didn't under- stand what the contracts said. I had hoped those days were long past. We've also read about athletes who go into professional sports only to be side- lined by an injury. The fact that they were "passed" through school doesn't really benefi t them in this instance because they no longer have the ability to play sports. The cash cow they rode to the big time, is now lame and they have to count on the other skills they have. But wait, they have no other skills because the only thing anyone cared about was how fast they ran and whether or not they could catch a ball. No child should ever be put in that position. But here we read that it's happened in our own community. I read with a great deal of irritation comments made by the Terry Sanford coach in regards to the player whose grades kicked off this brouhaha. He noted that the grade should have been changed because the teacher didn't give the student a plan for success. Really? I know school has changed a lot since I last sat in a classroom, but the plan for success is usu- ally spelled out on the fi rst day of class. It's called studying, doing your work, participat- ing and when you need help, asking for it. Millions of kids have followed that plan and have turned out quite well. Why should it have been any different for this athlete? Here's another question, if this young man was struggling so much in school, as an educator fi rst, shouldn't the coach have made a plan for his academic success which included freeing up his study time by putting him on the bench? That, my friend, would have been the fi rst step in a success plan. Because if that young man, or any young man or woman, wants to play sports bad enough, they'll put in the work to ensure that they meet the grade. But not if the grades are given to them. As a politically correct society, we've be- come obsessed with the wrong things. We're so worried about damaging a child's sense of self-worth, that we don't give them the chance to build it on their own. Sometimes, people have to fail. That failure is what helps them pull themselves up and get better. No one did this young man a favor — not his teachers, his coach or his principal. They, in fact, failed him. How many other students in Cumberland County are in the same boat? I am somewhat heartened by the stand taken by the school system's new superin- tendent, Frank Till Jr. Last week Till called a meeting and put a kabosh on grade changing in the system. That probably won't be a move that is liked or appreciated by athletic boosters, but it's one that we can stand by. If you want a grade, you've got to make the grade — on your own, through hard work. If Till stands fi rm, the days of passing students through are over in Cumberland County. And, if that's the case, then Till has done more for the students self-worth than any other educator they've come in contact with, because he's giving them a chance to stand on their own, to fall down and pick themselves back up. He's giving them a chance to learn, and isn't that what school is supposed to be all about anyway?

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