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SPECIAL REPORTS
Are Cabell students being challenged?
HUNTINGTON - Even the best and brightest among Cabell County's high school students and graduates can't say if they've been challenged enough to succeed at the next level.
Jordan Sager, who graduated from Huntington High School in June with a 4.4 grade point average, said she won't be able to give a definite answer until she gets through her freshman year. But she speculates that many students might walk onto a college campus without the tools to succeed.
"You have to be challenged," said Sager, who is attending Vassar College in New York State. "I challenged myself even more than the school system challenged me.
"I think a majority of the students will be unprepared (for college); I'm not even saying (I'm) prepared," she added. "I'm definitely walking into an environment that expects a lot."
Cabell Midland graduate Andrew Brewer earned a 3.85 GPA and a football scholarship to Purdue University. He had planned to enroll in the School of Pharmacy but was turned down because his academic resume, while very good, wasn't good enough compared with the others who wanted a spot.
Brewer said that's when it hit him how stiff the competition is outside of West Virginia.
Current students Sam Shideler, a senior at Huntington High, and Eric Newfeld, a junior at Cabell Midland, don't know what lies ahead, but both have been able to take advanced placement and honors classes thus far. Still, Shideler, who earned a perfect 36 on the ACT last fall, said he feels the county is unable to challenge or keep up with students who are really excelling.
"Me being on the upper end, there's not enough attention paid to stronger students," he said.
For example, he and about 10 other seniors wanted to take AP Calculus II, but not enough students signed up, so the class was dropped. After it was brought to the attention of administrators at the central office, however, the county was able to offer it online.
Newfeld has similar feelings, but he said the teachers simply have too much to cover in a 180-day calendar to get through it.
"The teachers are really trying their best to push the kids," Newfeld said. "Some of what they have to cover is so large, so much material, it can't be accomplished in a year."
While all four students have enjoyed academic success, they also have strong parental support and a motivation to succeed. They also had enough free time to participate in a variety of extra-curricular activities, both on and off campus.
Sager said she spent many of her evenings during her senior year watching television, participating in sports or acting in community theater. She said she just didn't have the amount of out-of-class work that she did as a sophomore and junior.
The same is true of Newfeld, who just finished a summer job as a lifeguard. He also participates in community theater and enjoys a good book or watching television. But he said he needs that outlet.
"If I came home and spent every moment with homework, that's too vicious of a cycle," Newfeld said. "An hour of Eric-time makes a difference."
