I'm impressed with Burke's quarterback Del'Javon Simmons who has decided to choose quality education over a senior year of athletic glory at Burke High School. I also think it speaks volumes that he chose not to relay his choice to Coach Earl Brown. Athletic Director and Coach Brown doesn't get and hasn't gotten it for a long time. Isn't it time for him to retire? Brown is quoted in the paper as stating, "If he's going down there to dedicate himself to making good grades, he could have done the same thing here." See, I didn't get that from the article, Coach Brown. I understood that the Burke student wanted "to prepare for the college tests" and clearly felt attending the prep school in Florida would afford him that opportunity more so than remaining at Burke. Simmons was just trying to be nice.
It's bad enough we can't keep our quality academic students at Burke. Now we can't even keep our star athletes. When is this community going to rise up and admit we have some serious problems at Burke?
Good luck, Del'Javon. You've already proven yourself wise beyond your years by making this choice.
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8 comments:
Yeah, I'm sure Coach Brown can "make sure" he "gets the grades" he needs, just not the education. Way to go Del'Javon!
If coach Brown was really interested in Del'Javon he would have made sure his grades was good enough to qualify for D1 sports since he stated he was around the kid since he was 8yrs old. I think the only thing he's concerned about is winning a state championship. Earl have you ever help a kid from Burke go to a D1 school? Good Luck (Ralph) your dreams will come true you will be playing at the D1 level no thanks to Coach Brown
It shows that Ralph is thinking far beyond his current suitation...Y not go to better prepare yourself for life beyond high school.Great move n may God continue to bless u along your journey..
It is a sad day when Charleston County's best athletes must go elsewhere to get a high school education that prepares them for college. Looking at the statewide predictions for the different football divisions today, I was struck by the lack of Charleston County Schools among them. Unless I missed something, Baptist Hill was the only school that was worth a mention. Even I can remember when Charleston County did have state contenders. What happened?
When are the taxpayers and parents of Charleston County going to get it? Our local public school administrators don't care about the educational progress of most of our kids. Their priority is how to make their overall numbers look good on paper. The needs of one kid, or even a hundred kids like him, are of little concern to them. Mr. Brown is all too typical from the superintendent and county board chairman right on down the line.
Their job is all about making a limited number of adults look good to those that hire or elect them. They are all about being seen as "team players" in support of a loosing school district. They are not about recognizing and meeting the academic needs of our children, especially if the children in the balance aren't their children.
This kid is right. He just made the decision to leave for better educational opportunities. It's a shame Charleston County's public schools are not flexible enough, diverse enough or wise enough to recognize that by meeting the educational needs of one talented students they can raise the potential of many more. Oh but we can't afford that. Even with a half billion dollars a year, CCSD can't adjust its game plan. The potential of this kid and how many others has been lost in order to stick to a loosing game plan supported by public school bureaucrats in Charleston County. Good luck to this winner. With good fortune and wise choices he may return one day to contribute to his native city. If he does, it will be with no thanks to CCSD.
Now the rest of the story...Guess the big football hero couldn't stand a little hard work. He called to get someone to come pick him up when he had to work the concession stand. This is so sad, It sounded like he may actually have made a good decision for his education. Instead he was just looking for the easy road.
Are you actually implying Burke is NOT the easy road? Give me a break. They give diplomas to kids who can't read and we all know it.
I read in the Post and Courier Ralph called Coach Brown and he refused to come get him. If that doesn't speak volumes for the kind of "Man" Coach Brown is, I don't what does.
When is CCSD going to get rid of Brown? Do we really have to wait until his son is ready to take over? God help us all.
I know just what kind of school Burke is, unfortunately. I meant that he went thinking he was going to have it made and when he got there and actually had to put forth some effort...he wanted to come home. Not sure what your beef was with my comment. It sounds like we both feel the same way.
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