OtherPress. Room 1020 — 700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 TELEPHONE: 604.525.3542 WEBSITE: theotherpress.ca EMAIL: editor@theotherpress.ca STAFF LIST Jacey Gibb Editor-in-chief Meditor@theotherpress.ca Natalie Serafini Assistant Editor Massistant@theotherpress.ca Angela Ho Business Manager Maccounting@theotherpress.ca Chris Paik Distribution Manager Midistribution@theotherpress.ca Cody Klyne Layout Manager Mlayout@theotherpress.ca Joel McCarthy Graphics Manager Migraphics@theotherpress.ca Ed Appleby illustrator Jony Roy Social Media Coordinator Patrick Vailancourt News Editor Minews@theotherpress.ca Cheryl Minns Arts Editor Marts@theotherpress.ca Sophie Isbister Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Elliot Chan Opinions Editor Mopinions@theotherpress.ca Eric Wilkins Sports Editor Msports@theotherpress.ca Courtnie Martin Sports Reporter Sharon Miki Humour Editor Mhumour@theotherpress.ca Cazzy Lewchuk Aidan Mouellic Julia Siedlanowska Staff Writers Steven Cayer Brittney MacDonald Senior Columnists Brad McLeod Brody Steves Christopher DeMarcus Contributors By www.stateimpact.npr.org The Surrey School District gets a passing grade (or at least positive feedback) Jacey Gibb Editor-in-chief , Seditor / @theotherpress.ca It seems like whenever education makes headlines in BC, it’s about the incessant amount of crap being shovelled onto our school system. You hear about teachers being legislated back to work or the cost of tuition being too damn high (about $2,300 for three courses? You the best, SFU)), but the first week of classes this year brought good news fora change. On January 6, the Surrey School District announced that it will be discontinuing the use of letter grades in several of their elementary schools, opting to use constructive feedback and comments as the sole representation of how a child is doing in class. The shift is meant to help provide more in-depth feedback for the students, as well as help parents better understand their child’s progression in class. Almost 4o elementary schools are now officially part of the letter grade-less program, which will be evaluated later this summer. © Gettoknow.us! © The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We area registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by Wand from our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. © The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. We receive our funding froma student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member of the Canadian University Press (CUP), a syndicate of student newspapers that includes papers from all across Canada. : Once the past six months have : been analyzed, a decision will : be made on whether or not the : program will expand to the rest : of the district. As someone who's going : into education (and if we're : getting specific, early childhood : development), I’m absolutely : thrilled about the transition : away from letter grades. I’m : sure many parents are going to : be worried about their child’s : learning no longer being : quantifiable, but the change : isa big step towards helping : improve the way educators, : students, and everyone else see : the school system. The reality is that grades are rarely an accurate : representation of the learning : astudent has achieved (ask : anyone who's received a minus : grade when they could have : easily had an even A, B, and : soon). If you want me to get : personal, I myself have a decent : GPA in my fourth year of post- : secondary. I hover comfortably : around the B/B+ field, which is : agoddamn miracle considering : the amount of work I’m able : to allot to my studies. It’s not : that I intentionally neglect my : schooling; it’s that between all of my jobs/volunteering/ : occasional sleeping, it’s hard : to put in the required work : that I know I should be doing. : And yet, I’m somehow able to : achieve relatively high marks : without learning 9/10 of the : course material. I would also : like to publicly apologize to any : : of my former professors who are : : reading this. It’s not you folks; : it’s me. This unfortunate mentality : has dominated my experience : in post-secondary and it’s : only in the past semester that : I’ve begun to reconsider my : approach to schooling. I’ve : become obsessed with just : finishing my degree so I can : move onto a career, which is : incredibly short-sighted. I need : to bea sponge during this time : and soak up all the knowledge/ : tips/trivia/networking I can : in these years, but I’m instead : focussed on the finish line. : What I learn ina class is lower : on my priority list than what : my final mark is. I’ve never : left an exam thinking “Yeah, : I’m glad I learned all of that : stuff and I’m glad I’m going to : remember it when I’m applying : this information to my actual : career.” It’s always a grand : exhaleas I mentally freak out over whether or not my guesses © The Other Press reserves the right to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners. : will at least count for half- : marks. It’s an incredibly flawed : mindset, and the grade system : is at least partially to blame for : it. I doubt we could ever : completely remove the letter grade from our education system and | don’t think we : necessarily should. It would : make higher education a : difficult filtration process of : who would be allowed into : what programs/classes (as : elitist as it sounds, there needs : to be a screening process) : but that’s why it’s elementary : schools undertaking the : change. I’m sure the bumper : sticker industry is furious at : the prospect of no longer being : able to produce “My child is : an A-student at Overachievers : Elementary School,” but I’m : sure they have other sayings : they can stickerify. When it comes down to it, a : report card for students without : letter grades means they can : focus on other parts of their : education. Like, you know, the : whole learning bit. So it goes, Teoey Gibb Editor-in-chief www.theotherpress.ca @ wwwdacebook.com/DouglasOtherPress | www.twitter.com/theotherpress