The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

Why Genevieve deserves a diploma

This year’s diplomas, which will be distributed to the Class of 2014.

By Ethan Walshe
Editor-in-Chief

Genevieve Johnson has made the decision at the age of 94 to finally finish high school. She chose to drop out of Westford Academy in 1936 to get a job at the Abbot Mills to assist her family during the Great Depression. She has and will continue to be attending classes at WA.

However, she will not be receiving a diploma when it’s all over.

Johnson will instead be receiving a Certificate of Attendance, according to Principal Jim Antonelli. This is because the standards for graduation from high school have changed significantly since 1936. According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in order to graduate from high school a student must receive a score of at least 240 on the sophomore year Math and English Language Arts MCAS. A student must also receive a score of at least 220 on an MCAS Science assessment, which is biology at WA.

Johnson will not be taking the MCAS, thus making her incapable of receiving a high school diploma. It is of course wholly unreasonable to sit anyone down for over five days of consecutive testing that are normally spaced out over the course of a year.

But this begs the more important question: is it reasonable not to allow Johnson to receive a high school diploma because she does not meet our current graduation requirements?

I contend that it is not.

To me, it makes little sense to hold a woman who attended high school under very different circumstances to the current standards that WA has in the year 2014. While it would be difficult to enforce the graduation requirements set forth in 1936, it strikes me that these are the standards this woman should be held to as they were what she was held to when she was actually in high school. She only needs 2.5 credits to receive her certificate, which indicates that she was very close to completion 78 years ago, set to complete high school early at the age of 16.

Additionally, there are other channels one can go through to receive a high school diploma. According to Section 4 of Chapter 71 of Massachusetts General Laws “school committees may award diplomas to any World War II veteran, Korean War veteran or Vietnam War veteran who is a resident of the commonwealth, who attended the high school maintained by the school committee, who withdrew from secondary school before graduation in order to serve in the armed forces of the United States.”

While Johnson’s withdrawal from high school was not for military service – the United States was not involved in any wars in 1936 – it was to assist her family during a time of need. It can certainly be argued that her contribution to her struggling family is comparable to military service.

There is in fact some precedence in this case. Just this school year, a 101 year old woman from Woburn received her diploma after she dropped out of high school in 1930 to assist her family during the Great Depression, according to Woburn Memorial High School. So why should Tina Lancelota be privy to this agreement and not Genevieve Johnson?

I do not blame Johnson nor WA administration for choosing not to pursue an appeal to the state. Something of that nature can turn into a bureaucratic nightmare quickly. But it seems to me an injustice that this woman is willing to return to high school classes as a 94 year old and will not reap the benefit of an actual diploma.

It of course should be addressed that Johnson is fully aware that she will not be receiving a diploma. She has accepted these terms and has elected not to appeal the state policy. I can only commend her for her resolve after all of these years. After all, at this stage receiving anything from WA, be it a certificate of attendance or a diploma, is a symbolic gesture. But it stands for her achievement after so much time and if Ms. Johnson is happy, so am I.

View Comments (7)
More to Discover

Comments (7)

All WA Ghostwriter Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • K

    Kathleen SullivanMay 8, 2014 at 9:06 am

    p.s. I have to say that I was shocked to see that readers had voted “no” that she did not deserve the diploma, I guess that’s why we have a democracy but again, I am surprised that after reading the story anyone would say no.

    Reply
  • K

    Kathleen SullivanMay 8, 2014 at 9:05 am

    She certainly deserves a diploma and exceptions can be made to every rule. I hope that this is brought to the attention of the School Committee and/or Principal and it is decided to award her this very deserving diploma. Kudos to her for completing her education, she probably could have taught the classes that she was taking.

    Reply
  • W

    Wendy JohnsonMay 8, 2014 at 9:01 am

    Genevieve Johnson is my grandmother, so of course I say: Give her the diploma! She sets a wonderful example for all of us: You are never too old to start over again, to finish what you started, to cancel out a regret. What a beautiful thing for all of us to be reminded of. She sets a great example for the kids at WA — and they are also setting a great example for her. God bless the kids who have taken a shine to her and made her feel welcome and accepted there. You guys rock!!!

    Reply
  • H

    HeideMay 7, 2014 at 4:22 pm

    How many foolish celebrities are given ‘honorary degrees’ having done nothing to deserve them? Give the woman her diploma.

    Reply
  • G

    Gregg HarrisMay 3, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    I know Genevieve quite well. Getting the diploma is not a big thing, finally graduating is the goal. And knowing her, and countless other graduates of the high schools of her generation, I see strong evidence she was very well educated by the standards of the time, and came away with more than a modicum of common sense and reasoning capability, which has served her well for almost 80 years.

    She told me her current English class has no textbook. They are listening to rap music. Perhaps the problem isn’t the 1936 education doesn’t meet the 2014 requirements, but that the 2014 education doesn’t meet the 1936 standards.

    I have a solution. I think a diploma would be a symbolic gesture about what we, well we older Americans at least, valued most – an education. Surely there must be a blank 1936 diploma in a file cabinet somewhere.

    Reply
  • E

    Elaine RistainoMay 2, 2014 at 9:19 pm

    Julie, I totally agree. I think that this would be the best thing to happen at WA in recent memory. I am very interested to see Jim’s response.

    Reply
  • J

    Julie ColavitaMay 2, 2014 at 6:52 am

    Ethan, I agree with you. According to the School Committee’s graduation policy P6110, “The Principal will also make provision for determining and interpreting graduation requirements in unusual circumstances.” I’d say this qualifies as an unusual circumstance and Ms. Johnson deserves her diploma.

    Reply