A liberal reporter named Karen Gray Houston recently cornered a sixth grade Honor Roll student because of his academic status.
The anchorwoman reported on the "unfair" nature of Eastern Middle School's way to reward their high-achieving students.
Houston told Fox 5 News, "It was supposed to be a celebration of school achievement. But apparently, the best part of a party at a Montgomery County Middle School was only for straight-A students. Well tonight, parents are upset that some other students were excluded from that party."
Upon investigating the situation further, Houston reported, "Straight-A students from Eastern Middle School were invited to a party that started during 7th period--and that's the final period of the day. Well students who got As, Bs, and Cs, could come later after the pizza was served. And, if your grades didn't make the cut, you didn't even get an invitation at all." And, "Speaking of not getting an invitation, we were not allowed inside the party at Eastern Middle School either, so we know a little about what it's like to be left out."
Houston questioned a young girl about the party and she stated, "It was fun... We we danced. And then there was a game room where you could play board games."
Upon talking to the sixth grade scholars, Houston was able to deduce that only the straight-A students got full access to the party: they were there the full time with pizza and soda. The kids was As, Bs, and Cs got to come in after school to join the straight-A students and only got soda. And the rest of the kids whose grades weren't up to snuff weren't invited at all.
Houston states, "Even the A-students thought that wasn't quite right." She asked a handsome young student the leading question, "Doesn't that seem wrong?"
"I guess," he responded hesitantly.
The other young lady stated, "It wasn't really fair to people, but I think it just like motivated you to work harder if you wanted to stay there the whole time."
And while the reporter seemed to think many of the parents were strongly displeased with the way in which the rewards were--or were not--doled out, a parent seems to share the young lady's sentiments.
"It's an incentive for children to do well. As well as for some students who don't make it, it can be a little discouraging."
Another mother chimed in, "I'm not sure that that is the kind of thing that actually motivates kids, I don't think that they're working hard for two months to go to a party at school for an hour."
The school district issued this statement to Fox 5: "Recognitions are decided at the school level in collaboration with the school community. Many schools recognize achievement in a variety of ways. If parents have questions, they are encouraged to bring it up with their principals and other officials at their school."
Houston maintains that while rewarding outstanding students is certainly not a new concept, the way in which Easter Middle School chose to do it was cause for concern. Glenn Beck, however, does not agree.
"Why do they think it's not fair? ... Probably, because they have been indoctrinated from the very beginning in socialist tendencies and beyond that, they've got a reporter sticking a microphone in their face saying, 'Do you think that's right?' They're [sixth] graders!
"She's reinforcing right there that it is wrong to have incentives. Prompting, prompting these kids to believe it's wrong.... He knows he worked hard for those As and he deserved the party. He knows that everybody in the school had equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. There are no equal outcomes in life. Life is what you make of it. They are trying to tell you that life just is. NO! Life is what you make of it."
Glenn ended on this patriotic note, "America was founded on the principles of merit... This is exactly what your kid should be learning in school. Merit. Merit. And if they're not learning that, it is time to find a school that does. Or quite honestly...if you can't find a school that will teach merit and accomplishment and eternal truths, then you've got to go start one because that's who Americans are.... That's how we fix our country."
Watch the report on TheBlaze.
