Students' and Teachers' Opinions on the Quarter 1 Awards Assembly

Many Fitz students attended the Quarter 1 Awards Assembly. It was an hour-long assembly that took place on Thursday, October 26, 2023 at 2:30 pm. Students who had a GPA higher than 3.0 obtained an award and were congratulated for their outstanding work. The assembly included parents, teachers, 7th graders, and 8th graders. But, many students had issues with the ceremony for several different reasons (e.g., length, crowdedness, audience, and unfair prizes). Many improvements have been made ever since the second quarter’s award assembly, but it is still important to discuss the problems and flaws with previous ceremonies. So–what did you think of the assembly?

Last year in 2022-2023, awards would be given out in classrooms in 6th period. It would take around five minutes of class time, but it was a fun way to hand out awards. Although this system was entertaining and enjoyable for students, these events did not feel very official or celebratory. Students were only called up to get an award in front of their 6th-period class and it did not feel like an actual honor. It also felt like an unexpected interruption when a staff member came into class and randomly started handing out awards to students. I remember when I was taking a unit test for algebra, a staff member came into class and started handing out awards. That time that was used for handing out awards could have been used to finish my algebra test! Clearly, there were many issues with the old way of handing out awards, so Fitz created a new way to honor those students who did well in the first quarter of 2023-2024! Instead of honoring students in class, they made it an after-school assembly. And instead of only being called out in front of a small 6th-period class, you can be honored in front of your parents, classmates, and teachers. But, yet again, there were a plethora of problems with that assembly as well.

One of the biggest problems with the Quarter 1 Awards Assembly was that it was too crowded. All students that had a 3.0 GPA or higher and their parents were invited to the assembly. Since the first quarter always feels like a breeze through the air, many students were able to score a 3.0 GPA or higher. As a result, about half of the school attended the assembly. Students and teachers complained about how loud and crowded the assembly was. We asked an anonymous 8th grader for her feedback on the assembly. Her response included, “Yeah, it was crowded. I struggled to get out of my seat with all the backpacks and people covering the way.” This shows the real experience that students had during the assembly. High-achieving students worked hard and struggled to get the GPA they got, so why should they struggle to walk through backpacks and crowds just to get their award? Overall, the organization of the assembly could have been much better.

Another problem with the Quarter 1 Awards Assembly was the quality of the prizes. The school offered ice cream sandwiches as prizes for students that had a 3.0 GPA or higher! Who can go wrong with ice cream, right? But, since the length of the entire assembly took around an hour, most of the ice cream was melted by the time students with a 3.5 GPA were called to get their awards. We asked an anonymous student who attended the awards assembly if they thought ice cream was an appropriate prize for students. She responded, “No, because it melted easily and the people at the end had to get it another day or get melted ice cream.” Of course, if the prizes are ruined and extremely messy to eat, students will be disappointed, especially if they put in hard work to earn the GPA they got. Instead of leaving the ice cream on a table for students to freely grab, the school should have kept them in a cooler or fridge and given them out when students asked for one. This would not only keep the ice cream cold, but it would also prevent students from taking more than one ice cream sandwich.

The quality of the ice cream was not the only problem with the prize given out during the awards ceremony. Clearly, the assembly was overcrowded with students, so having an ice cream for each student was difficult. Students were called up for their award in the order of: 3.0-3.49 GPA, 3.5-3.99 GPA, and 4.0 GPA. Unfortunately, the school didn’t have enough ice cream for every single student, so those who scored a higher GPA didn’t get any ice cream. We asked a teacher who wished to stay anonymous how she felt about the best-performing students not getting any dessert. She responded with, “If I recall, they ran out, right? So, yes, by the time they got to the 4.0 students, they didn't get their ice cream. Bummer. Did they give you all one the next day, at least?” This anonymous teacher is saying it is unfair that students who had a perfect GPA did not receive an ice cream because the school had run out. Even I remember not receiving an ice cream. I had to manually ask the office for an ice cream and eat it by myself. We do not know the real reason why there was not enough ice cream for every student, but clearly, the school did not mean for students to get no prize for their hard work.

Our amazing school knew that students and teachers were disappointed in the Quarter 1 Awards Assembly, so they made several changes like 7th and 8th graders having their respective assemblies and students with a higher GPA being called up first. Since 7th and 8th graders had their assemblies on different days, it definitely maintained how crowded each assembly was. In addition, students with a 4.0 GPA were called up first, so they were able to be praised for their hard work first. We asked an 8th grader, Axel Sanchez, how the Quarter 1 and 2 Awards Assemblies were different. He said, “They were different because the 4.0 [GPA students] went first and the lower went next. It was also divided by grades. I liked the Quarter 2 assembly more.” After the changes from the Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 Awards Assembly, students were much more satisfied with the assembly. Overall, it is great that our school listens to their teachers and students and can make improvements to events that need much more work. 

The Quarter 1 Awards Assembly had many flaws and students and teachers expressed their displeasure with the assembly. Our school acknowledged our feedback and made several improvements to the second assembly which proves that our school can listen to us and will listen to us.