For four long years, many students work tirelessly in their extracurricular activities, but they walk at graduation in anonymity. During graduation, only four extracurriculars— ASBL, Peer Listeners, the National Honor Society and the California Scholarship Federation members—can wear cords, stoles or flowers to celebrate their achievements.
However, there are other programs such as the performing arts, STEM, publications and sports teams that deserve to show their accomplishments at graduation. These programs win awards, compete and participate in the community, putting TCHS on the map for excellence and service. Though ASBL and Peer exchange with local schools and provide countless hours of service to the school, they are not the only groups on campus that should be recognized.
STEM programs such as Science Olympiad have long, demanding tryouts that consist of an application process, interviews and two written exams based on actual events from the year, which can range from anatomy to fossils to oceanography. Their passion and hard work is not only evident in tryouts, but also in competitions. In fact, SciOly won second place out of 51 teams at the LA Regional Science Olympiad competition in February.
In addition to serving the school and community, the performing arts department garners attention from national TV. The Kelly Clarkson Show recognized vocal arts teacher Matt Byers for excellence, bringing a small town into the spotlight of national television.
Aside from the vocal arts, the Pride of Temple City participated in the 2015 Tournament of Roses Parade, a nationally televised event dubbed “America’s New Year Celebration.”
TCHS’s own yearbook, Templar, received multiple awards. In 2018, Templar was a NSPA Pacemaker finalist for their “The Time is Now” edition, being one of 43 schools in the U.S. to earn this title. At a trip to Washington D.C. in November, three Rampage staff writers competed against more than 100 high schools and won awards at the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention. Templar, alongside the Rampage publication, recently won second place in the Super-Sweepstakes category at the Eastern Los Angeles JEA write-offs. Both Templar and Rampage cover school and community stories during the school year, providing a service to all who read and view their publications.
TCHS’s sports are no strangers to statewide recognition. For example, boys varsity baseball claimed the CIF Southern Section Division 5 title in 2018, becoming state champions. In recent years, teams like boys and girls varsity water polo and boys varsity basketball have made CIF. Many of the teams made history like girls varsity soccer who became Rio Hondo League champions for the first time in 20 years or the boys varsity soccer team who made CIF for the first time in ten years. Overall, our sports teams bring our city together, creating bonds and unity during each and every game.
The argument for allowing students to wear the NHS and CSF cords is that many schools across the state or nation also have graduates adorned with these cords.
Students across the country also apply for other national societies like Science NHS, International Thespians Society, Quill and Scroll, Mu Alpha Theta (Mathematics) or the Tri-M Music Honor Society. Therefore, if we are going to follow a local school’s lead, we can follow Arcadia High, which allows their students to get their cords for extracurricular clubs approved. Similarly, we should allow other school groups to get their organizations approved or work to integrate a wider range of National Honor Societies.
This year at graduation, students who are members of our performing arts, STEM, publications and sport teams should wear cords, stoles or flowers to celebrate their accomplishments. Every prestigious group deserves equal recognition in order to properly honor the hard-work, dedication and passion each group puts forth to better the school and community.