Your secondary/high school

[LUDICROUS]

When did you go to high/sec school? Was/is it formal? All boys/girls?

My school is deeply rooted in tradition. All boys, we call the teachers "sir" or "miss". However, most students are almost friends with their teachers, in the sense we crack the odd joke, take the odd friendly shot at them - But if it crosses the line, you're dead. Some teachers are very strict, some aren't. The super strict teachers are generally considered w@nkers, the non strict teachers are pathetic, and as you'd expect the middle is fine in the sense they are strict and fair. Our principal is also a somewhat important person in New Zealand secondary school education. We have exams every term, which determine class placement. Top class is A, bottom is usually (lately) below O. In my form it goes to about Q. Each class has roughly 30 people in them. My school is also somewhat big, 2600 students. We do external exams in the senior school, which are the international cambridge exams (go cambridge!) and the lower half of the senior school does NCEA, a brand new NZ qualification system that is, quite frankly, screwed. There is NO incentive to work hard, because the only possible marks are "achieved" "merit" and "excellence". You can get about 30% in a test and still pass, yet people who get more than you can fail, and do. Oh, and a fair amount of last years school leavers can't enter university because the system failed them. But thats another can of worms...

Anyway, I'm very bored, so whats/what was your school like?

[mrbiggs]

Stereotypical American suburban high school. No complaints. Hard work Junior year, though.

[LUDICROUS]

Originally Posted by mrbiggs

Stereotypical American suburban high school. No complaints. Hard work Junior year, though.

I hear that real cheerleaders at US high schools aren't hot at all? We had a exchange student from wisconsin last year who said that of cheerleaders in wisconsin.

[mrbiggs]

Originally Posted by LUDICROUS

I hear that real cheerleaders at US high schools aren't hot at all? We had a exchange student from wisconsin last year who said that of cheerleaders in wisconsin.

Sometimes they are. They always THINK they're hot. It tends to be the gymnastics type of girls, so...it's hit or miss. Probably hotter than average, on average. If that makes sense.

[KShan5[PrFC]]

Originally Posted by LUDICROUS

I hear that real cheerleaders at US high schools aren't hot at all? We had a exchange student from wisconsin last year who said that of cheerleaders in wisconsin.

He was also from Wisconsin....

[LUDICROUS]

The only thing I can link to Wisconsin is That 70's Show, which is a definite plus for Wisconsin in my eyes!

Oh, and funny accents. "Juush (like the "oosh" sound in whoosh, but with J, so like Joooooocsh) D'oraaaange" - Wisconcin chap saying orange juice in french, twas f*cking hilarious.

[Louweasel]

This is the school I went to (89-96):

http://www.sandhigh.cheshire.sch.uk/School/default.htm

and v good it was too.

[esskreemr]

Originally Posted by LUDICROUS

I hear that real cheerleaders at US high schools aren't hot at all? We had a exchange student from wisconsin last year who said that of cheerleaders in wisconsin.

It depends on the school. At my school, all the cheerleaders were heffers. The women's basketball team on the other hand was a bunch of hotties.

[Welted 24/7]

I graduated in 2003. Like mrbiggs, it was your everyday suburban high school.

And in my experience, most schools have either "bleh"-level or incredibly skanky cheerleaders.

[Maeve_Mari]

One cause that has led to the demise of the super-hot cheerleader has been the increased access to sports by girls and women. Like ess said, the cheerleaders might be dull, but the basketball girls are hawt. Same with the lacrosse, soccer, and field hockey teams! That's where the girls are now. These girls are now out there playing and winning and earning their college scholarships instead of cheering for the school teams.

I have noticed another recent trend, yet still new in our area, is that even our cheerleading squads are becoming more competitive. Instead of cheering at games and doing the school spirit stuff ours are starting to compete at the cheerleading contests and in doing so are starting to look more athletic (re: hawt.)

<img src="http://www.cincinnati.com/preps/2002/05/03/lacrosse2_150x200.jpg">

[Tazz]

My school's an Anglican all girls school. It sucks. We start the morning by going to chapel, and preying and singing and. . . for a Atheists like me it's the worst possible way to start a new day. It's quite a small school, classes between 5 and 20, and we wear an ugly uniform that makes us look like nuns. The education itself is excellent... and the campus is beautiful, its an old stone building with lovely gardens. NIce thing about it is it's quite easy to skip class, teachers somehow don't really notice. And it's close to my house, so I can walk home if I get really bored.

[swordwench]

I went to another typical suburban high school (lo! these many years ago). It had a good academic record, until they started to cut all of the high-end classes due to budget constraints. So much for the gifted programs... let's just throw some more money at football and remedial math, OK?

As far as cheerleaders were concerned, they were the bi*chiest girls in the school and were rather nasty to those not in their social sphere. Funny thing was, they weren't even the most attractive - and certainly not the most intelligent - so wherefore the attitude? I had the distinct pleasure of seeing them at a high school reunion several years later (not telling how many), and they were looking pretty haggard. Heh heh heh. Oh, was that unkind? I do agree that the "sport" has become an actual sport, especially around here. Gone are the days of the pom-pom shaking vapid nasties with plastic smiles - now, they're performing feats of athleticism that make me nervous to watch. But I can't comment on any change in their personalities, because the only one I still know (a niece by marriage) is just like those chicks of old.

And for the record, Wisconsin is full of many lovely people with interesting accents. And lovely landscape (ahh, the Dells...). And LOVELIEST of all, they sell CHEESE in rest area shops along the highways! Anyplace that can boast such an abundance of yummy dairy food is OK in my book.

[Larrison]

HS? Ancient history... Newish suburban US high school, with around 2500 students. First graduating class was 3 years before mine.

What was different about it? Due to the rapid expansion of the school district (suburbia came through very rapidly, turning a small town of dairies and small farms into housing developments and malls), we were in double session with another brand-new high school using our campus until their campus could be built. That other school started at 12:30. We went to school from 7:30 am until 12:00 noon. Extracurricular programs such as band, sports or any club activities met after school.

The school was very "social" and not very "academic". I mean, I ended up in a highly competitive science/ math college without knowing what a logarithm was... Parties and to a lesser extent athletics were the big time scene. Beach, surfing, parties, car clubs, gang fights -- most popular semi-legal activities.

Cheerleaders were some of the most social girls on campus, and pretty good looking -- although there were other girls on campus who were more beautiful. (One non-cheerleader girl on campus was "Miss California" her senior year, so there's a subjective basis for that claim.)

Distinguished graduates from about my time in HS who went on to do something significant? One professional football quarterback, 2 or 3 professional minor and major league baseball players. Miss California. And that's about it...

[Epee_Pox]

went to a catholic school the first 2 years. so-so teachers, very limited curriculum, even more limited extracurriculars. my friends in public school had a much better deal (granted it was the best public school system in the nation at the time, but still).

went to a military school the next two years. outstanding teachers, limited but much more challenging curriculum, and amazing extracurriculars. (at how many high schools can you get your pilot's license, ride horses, work on engines, advance through full-time JROTC, earn army marksmanship medals, visit military installations with lectures on armaments and get to drive the tanks, take class trips to europe, perform in your band before world leaders, etc. etc. etc.) and talk about learning responsibility and maturity-- i'm in my mid-thirties now, but i'd more readily take an order from some of those kids than most adults i've known.

but boy, how we wished there were girls there. probably would have given my left... well, my left arm anyway... for female companionship back then.

[swordwench]

Originally Posted by Epee_Pox

...but boy, how we wished there were girls there. probably would have given my left... well, my left arm anyway... for female companionship back then.

We can only assume you hold your weapon in your right hand...

[lochinvar]

Like Larrison, my HS is ancient history.

Two years in a Roman Catholic HS that was segregated by sex (girls on one side of the building, boys on the other), followed by two years of public school in a smallish city (45,000) in Indiana. I was the last graduating class from the single school; they split the district into two schools the following year. (There were 820 people in my graduating class, which is huge by some standards and so-so by others...)

The cheerleaders weren't anything to write home about. Some were cute, some weren't--it depended on your taste. Pretty much they reflected the female population of the school as a whole.

[Zelda]

http://www.clayfield.qld.edu.au/cc_page_welcome.htm is where I spent my last year of primary and all my high school years. Single sex Presbyterian and Methodist school. It had its good points and its bad.

[Louweasel]

Originally Posted by Tazz

preying

*snort* Now that is an amusing typo... Visions of schoolgirls chasing small animals down corridors and eating them...

[telkanuru]

I went to BU Academy. Most pretentious school on the planet, if you couldn't tell by the name. Small school, 35 per grade or thereabouts. I did meet some of my best friends as well as people who are undoubtably as smart as they are socially inept, and that's saying something. Seriously, it was a school of introvert geniuses. No other gathering I have attended has made me feel as stupid as going to class at BUA. Those 4 years were similar to someone attempting to force knowledge into my head by pounding books into my ears. It was great fun

It's also why I know Latin. "Classical Education", bah.

It was very informal and very liberal in thought (education tends to direct one away from modern conservatisim at the very least) and staffed by and large by phenominal teachers. Grades were A-C and F (no D). B- minimum average to stay. Highest SATs in the state (I am embarassed to say mine lowered this average), neener neener to RL.

[Tazz]

Originally Posted by Louweasel

*snort* Now that is an amusing typo... Visions of schoolgirls chasing small animals down corridors and eating them...

Even that would be more fun though...