AU Blogspot

                  Thanks to clspeace for permission to use this Photo. 

Megan Bowen is an Ashworth High School English Instructor.  You can read some of Megan’s blog posts by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page.  As someone who is always thinking of new and dynamic ways to engage her students, it’s no surprise that Megan has begun hosting classroom discussions on the Ashworth Student Forum.  As an English major myself, I’ve personally enjoyed participating in these interactive discussions and have been very impressed by the insightul perspectives students have offered on their latest reading assignments. 

If you’re an Ashworth High School student or a parent of such a student, we encourage you to participate in one of Megan’s classroom discussions.  Our new student forum provides a terrific environment for students, parents, and faculty to interact—so be sure to join our Forum community today if you haven’t already. 

Megan and I hope to see you on the Forum soon!

Here are the links:

Ashworth University Student Forum

Megan’s Bowen Classroom Discussions

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University 

Last week, I was searching online for a newspaper article I needed to link to for the One Size Fits All article.  I was surpised at how many newspaper articles concerning high school sports I had to dig through before I could find the academic article that I was searching for.

I’m not sure why I was surprised, because it is not new news to me that sports are very important in high school (and college for that matter).  I remember reading the Wikipedia article written on the high school I attended which basically said “This high school performed at a D level this year academically, but they have an award winning football team!”.  When mentioning which high school I went to to those familiar with the area, I get the same response, “Oh yeah, they have a great football team!”.

Special thanks to kafeole for permission to use this photo.

Why do we focus so intently on sports?  If you’re talking about a school with a really poor acadmic program and a really awesome sports program, the academic part should not be swept under the rug. 

I’m not a sports fan, and the college that I went to did not have any sports teams (unless you consider Ultimate Frisbee a sport) so maybe I am a little biased.  I don’t think sports in high school are a bad thing, by any means.  I think it’s great for kids to have the option of joining a sports team.  We all know that organized sports and clubs can be good for kids self-esteem, and can keep them focused and out of trouble.  My problem is that we seem to be focusing solely on sports and ignoring the huge problems that exist with the academic aspect of public education these days.

What do you think?

Nicole Burris
Associate Registrar
Ashworth University