Went to such an event last night, the prize giving for the sports team. Family friends' daughter was getting a couple of prizes, so we were put on the guest list. Some observations, starting with the not-so-good.
Latecomers. The proceeding was set to start at 1730, and it did so, on the dot. People were still drifting in at nearly 1800! To cap it all, the family that invited us were late!!! Now, I know that Vegas is a construction zone from end to end right now, and parents getting time off to attend on time if they work in the casino industry isn't necessarily going to happen. Still, I found the sheer number of latecomers disturbing. Maybe I'm just old and grumpy.
I was majorly unimpressed by the number of no-shows. A depressing number of students who were supposed to get prizes were not present. That may have a lot to do with the factors I mentioned above, and maybe a lot of the kids have after school jobs to help support the family. To be kind, this particular high school is not in an affluent catchment area. Several coaches were no-shows, too.
However, the real kicker was that the damned
principal cried off. WTH!? I think three school teams and several individuals made it to state and regional competitions, and yet she doesn't turn up? I asked about this and was told, wryly, "Yeah, she always seems to have somewhere else to be." Whether this is just directed at the sports program or is a general habit of hers was not revealed. Bloody poor, IMNSHO.
As for the conduct of the ceremony, I thought it was a lot of fun. The kids were mostly quiet during the speeches, and while all those receiving accolades were applauded with cheers, certain students and even coaches were given the full, loud treatment. Quite a bit of school spirit going on.
The whole deal only lasted an hour, which I felt was about right. Afterwards, we hit Tacos El Gordo and I ate far too much. All in all, a good evening.