Malcolm Fredeking: Bee fails to celebrate, even acknowledge, Academic Decathlon
Last Saturday, the Stanislaus County Office of Education had the 36th annual Academic Decathlon. Thirteen local high schools participated in 10 rigorous academic examinations including essays, speeches and tests covering the demanding subjects of literature, economics, mathematics, science, music, art, and social science. All of the participating students demonstrated outstanding efforts and enthusiasm for the opportunity to display their many months of hard work and intense reading and studying for the event.
A sincere and hardy congratulations to every participant!
However, The Bee provided no coverage of this wonderful event. No story. No photos. Nothing.
Given the now statewide demands for core standards and that public education’s No. 1 priority is the improvement of learning, such a failure demonstrates a complete lack of respect toward the students, their parents and teachers. If The Bee can splash high school sports stories and accompanying photos in an almost daily barrage, then it should, minimally, provide one-day coverage and an honest celebration of some of Stanislaus County’s finest students. They dedicated their time and efforts to improving their minds through an interaction with demanding academic material.
Malcolm Fredeking, Modesto
This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Malcolm Fredeking: Bee fails to celebrate, even acknowledge, Academic Decathlon."