In November, we privately received ten (count 'em, 10) fresh, good-sized banners from the Arkansas Activities Association, the AAA. the good ol' triple A. We usually receive the banners during the first week of August - in public. The delivery was late this year ... and off the grid.
Hmmm.
Mr. Lance Taylor is the Executive Director of the AAA and a terrific leader. Fair-minded, consistent, energetic, gracious, good-humored, smart, inclusive and upbeat, Lance is an huge asset to Arkansas and Arkansas schools, public and private. The true story I share has nothing to do with Lance. Like me, he is accountable to a board of directors. In his case, that means a board of public school superintendents. I commend him for keeping so many diverse interests as united as possible.
Back to the story.
The banners received, so to speak, in the middle of night were our Academic State Championship banners. Little Rock Christian Academy, once again, received the most academic state championships in the state of Arkansas.
Two years ago, 10.
Last year, 9.
This year, 10.
And so it goes.
In ten distinct AAA sports, the team GPA of our Warriors ranked #1 in the state compared to every other team GPA in that sport in, at least, 5A competition.
Grade inflation in Warriorville? Easy teachers? Blow-off coursework? Athlete favoritism? Anyone who knows anything about our biblical worldview curriculum knows that is impossible. Imagine Erlo, Howell or Best going easy on a defensive back. Any citizen of Warriorville knows the real story - Warriors play hard and work hard.
It's the way we do things around here. Not counting on D1 scholarships, our athletes know the value of a solid ACT score. The joy of victory in the arena overflows to the classroom and vice versa. Based on self-discipline and merit, we congratulate our academic state champion teams in ten sports.
The sad part of the story is that until 2011, this accomplishment was noted in the general assembly of all school superintendents and heads of school in the state. Ordinarily, Little Rock Christian would be called out and we'd go forward to receive the awards and the applause - albeit meager - of my peers. But things are different now. We still get the banners but the awards ceremony has been dropped from the agenda.
Now, I'm not saying too many private schools were receiving too many academic state championships. I'm just saying ...
Gary B Arnold