The Surry Early College High School of Design has a problem with a name — and it’s not the mouthful that it goes by.
In the broad scheme of things, this problem ranks somewhere at the bottom of the priority scale, but it’s still kind of fun to ponder solutions.
Here’s the trouble: this year, the third year for the school, the highest level students are juniors, just as they would be at any other high school. Things are going to get tricky for them next year, though.
The Early College (as we’ll call it to save both space and ink) is a novel concept in which its students attend for five years at the Dobson campus, at the end of which they will graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree. In essence, these students will be cramming six years worth of education into five.
Back to this year’s current juniors. What will they be called next year? The natural thing would be “seniors.” But this isn’t a “natural” school.
If they are to be called seniors in their fourth year, what’s that make them in the fifth? They certainly aren’t freshmen (or “freshwomen,” if there even is such a word), because freshmen don’t graduate from community college. And they couldn’t be sophomores without having undergone all the pain and ridicule that the upper classes heap upon the frosh.
So if they’re not seniors, are they “sub-seniors”? Or maybe they are seniors in the fourth year and then become “super-seniors” in the fifth.
Think this is a tough one? We aren’t even addressing the issue of whether or not these students should go through a graduation exercise after their fourth year.
So do you have a suggestion for a name for the fourth- and fifth-year students at the Early College? Post a response to our blog here.
The ones we’ve suggested so far are all we can come up with. Perhaps because we’re having a senior moment.
There are approximately 100 institutions in the US that can legitimately call themselves a “school of design.” NC State has a College of Design (It was called “NCSU School of Design” until about 5 years ago.) All the schools that hold themselves out as design schools offer curricula that includes the discipline of design studies. Let’s start the conversation about what call the students by getting the name of the program right. I recommend Surry County Early College Program. In other words, honor the students and the program by naming it what it is. Ever heard of Esse Quam Videre — North Carolina’s motto — TO BE RATHER THAN TO SEEM.
Once we get the name of the program right, then we can squabble over what to call the students. I suggest “Level 1, Level 2, etc. for the program levels.
How about keeping Juniors and Seniors and have the fifth year students be Masters or Majors?
Or a fifth year student could be “Past Senior” or “Senior Plus”
or “Doyen” or “Maven.”
I THINK THAT IF THEY ARE GOING TO BE CALLED SUPER SENIORS THEY MIGHT AS WELL DROP OUT FOR THEIR SAKE.
MAJORS IS A RESPECTABLE NAME TO BE CALLED BUT THE QUESTION IS WILL THEY LIKE IT??
I think have 2 JUNIOR years. Junior 1 and junior 2. It’s going to sound a little different than most, no matter what one calls it.