在學(xué)校真酷

In the eighth grade， I was student-body president of Erwin Middle School in Asheville， North Carolina. I considered this quite an honor since there were over 1000 students in the school. At the end of the year， I was asked to make a speech at the ceremony where my class was promoted to high school. I knew this had to be more than just the brief comments a student might normally give. We're the class of 2 000， so I wanted my speech to be as special as we were.

八年級的時候，我是北卡羅萊納州艾西維爾市歐文中學(xué)的學(xué)生會主席。我覺得這非常光榮，因為我們學(xué)校有1 000多名學(xué)生。年末的時候，我被要求在我們班升入高中的典禮上演講。我知道這通常不僅僅是一個學(xué)生對已往學(xué)習(xí)的簡單評價。我們是2000級的，所以我想要我的演講和我們一樣與眾不同。

I spent several nights lying in bed， thinking about what to say. Many things crossed my mind， but none of them involved all my classmates. Then one night， it hit me. Erwin High School has the highest dropout rate of any high school in our county. What better goal could we have than for every single one of us to graduate? What if I could get my class to become the first class in the history of our public school system to enter high school as freshmen and all graduate? Wouldn't that be awesome?

我花了幾個晚上躺在床上，想該說些什么。許多事情在我腦海里浮現(xiàn)，但沒有一個能包括我的所有同學(xué)。突然一天晚上，我想到了。歐文高中是我們郡學(xué)生淘汰率最高的。還有什么比我們每一個人都畢業(yè)這個目標(biāo)更好呢？如果我讓我們班成為公立學(xué)校系統(tǒng)歷史上第一個全班學(xué)生從新生進入高中并且全都畢業(yè)的班級會怎么樣呢？那樣會不會很厲害呢？

The speech I gave on graduation day was only 12 minutes long， but what it started is unbelievable. When I issued the challenge to my classmates，the entire audience， including the parents， grandparents and teachers， erupted in applause. As I showed the personalized certificates and signs each student would get， I could tell they were really enthused. At the end of my speech the whole audience jumped to its feet with a standing ovation. It was all I could do to keep my composure and not break down and cry. I'd had no idea my challenge would bring this kind of response.

我畢業(yè)典禮那天的演講只有12分鐘，但它引發(fā)的事件真讓人難以置信。當(dāng)我說到對于我的同學(xué)們的挑戰(zhàn)時，全場聽眾，包括父母、祖父母和老師，都爆發(fā)出了熱烈的掌聲。當(dāng)我展示每個學(xué)生都會得到的個人證書和簽名時，可以說他們真的很激動。在我演講的最后，全場聽眾都起立鼓掌。所有我能做的只有保持鎮(zhèn)定不要倒下和哭出來。我不知道我的挑戰(zhàn)會帶來這樣的響應(yīng)。

Throughout the summer， I worked on developing a program to carry our commitment into high school. I gave speeches to civic clubs and groups， and talked with several of my classmates. I told our high school principal that I wanted to start a \"Dropout Patrol\"， made up of students who would be willing to help and support other students during bad times. I wanted to design a special shirt to identify members of our class and would like to sell these to make money to publish a class directory. I thought it would be good if we could have some type of party to celebrate if we made it through a whole semester without losing anyone.

整個夏天，我都忙于研究一項能使我們的承諾在高中得以實施的計劃。我在市民俱樂部和團體中演講，并且和我的幾個同學(xué)交談。我對我們高中的校長說我想成立一個叫“淘汰學(xué)生巡邏隊”的組織，由那些愿意幫助和支持其他在困難時期的同學(xué)組成。我想設(shè)計一件特殊的T恤來識別我們班的成員并且愿意把這些賣掉，賺錢來刊印一本班級的花名冊。我想如果我們可以舉辦某種形式的聚會來慶祝一整個學(xué)期沒有一個人被淘汰會是個不錯的主意。

\"I'll give you one better than that，\" he told me. \"I'll throw your class a party at the end of each grading period if you don't lose anyone.\" That was really exciting because a grading period was only six weeks: just 30 school days.

“我可以給你比那更好的，”他對我說，“如果你們一個也沒有被淘汰，我會在每個學(xué)期期末為你們班舉辦一個聚會。”這真是令人興奮，因為一個學(xué)期只有6周：僅僅30個學(xué)習(xí)日。

Throughout the summer， word began to spread about our challenge. I appeared on local television and radio， the newspaper asked me to write a guest column and calls started coming in from everywhere. One day I received a call from CBS News in New York. One of their researchers had found my newspaper article and they were interested in featuring our class on their 48 Hours program and told the country about our commitment. All this was amazing， because I had told our class we could become the most famous class in America if we all made it to graduation. We were just beginning， and we were already drawing national attention.

整個夏天，有關(guān)我們挑戰(zhàn)的言論開始流傳。我上了本地的電視和廣播，報紙叫我寫一個嘉賓專欄，電話也開始從四面八方打來。一天我接到一個從紐約CBS新聞打來的電話。他們的一個研究員看到了我在報紙上寫的文章，他們有興趣在他們的48小時節(jié)目上為我們班做一個專題，并且告訴全國有關(guān)我們承諾的事情。所有的這些都讓人驚異，因為我曾告訴全班如果我們?nèi)伎梢援厴I(yè)，我們將會成為美國最出名的班級。我們才剛剛開始，就已經(jīng)受到全國的關(guān)注了。

As I write this story， our journey is just beginning. We have the first 12 weeks of school behind us. Our pledges are hanging in the school lobby across from the principal's office. Across from them is a large glass case where we mounted a piece of sheet metal with a huge hourglass painted on it. In the top of the hourglass there is a round magnetic dot for each day we have remaining in high school. We have appointed a committee of \"Dropout Patrol\" members to monitor the hourglass. Each day they move a dot from the top to the bottom. This lets us track our progress in a way the entire class can watch. We began with 720 dots in the top， but now 60 of them have been moved to the bottom and we have earned our second party. It's fun to watch the dots move.

當(dāng)我寫這個故事的時候，我們的旅程才剛剛開始。在我們后面有最初的12個教學(xué)周。我們的承諾懸掛在學(xué)校的大廳上，校長辦公室的對面。它們的對面是一個很大的玻璃盒子，我們在上面放了一張畫有巨大沙漏的金屬板。在沙漏的頂部有一個圓形的磁點顯示我們在高中所剩下的每一天。我們指定一個由“淘汰學(xué)生巡邏隊”成員組成的委員會來監(jiān)督這個沙漏。每天他們從頂部到底部移動一個點。這讓我們以一種全班都能看見的方式記錄下我們的進程。剛開始的時候，頂部有720個點，但現(xiàn)在它們中的60個已經(jīng)被移動到了底部，我們也得到了我們的第二個聚會。看著點移動是件好玩的事。

We are just starting a difficult four-year journey， but we have already made a significant impact. Last year， by the end of the second grading period， 13 kids had dropped out of the freshman class. So far this year， not a single person who signed the pledge has quit， and the \"Dropout Patrol\" has become the largest organized group in the school.

我們只是開始著一場困難重重為期4年的旅程，但我們已經(jīng)引起了重大的影響。去年，在第二個年級的最后，13個小孩從新生班里被淘汰出局。今年到目前為止，在承諾書上簽了字的人沒有一個退出，“淘汰學(xué)生巡邏隊”已經(jīng)成了學(xué)校里最大的組織團體。

Businesses are seeing what a program run completely by kids can do， and they are throwing their support behind us. We have banks， car dealers， furniture stores， restaurants and more where we can get discounts for our entire family when we show our \"Dropout Patrol\" ID cards.

商業(yè)機構(gòu)想看看一個完全由小孩運作的項目能做什么，同時他們也在我們背后給予支持。當(dāng)我們出示“淘汰學(xué)生巡邏隊”身份證時，我們整個家庭在銀行、車行、家具店、餐館和更多的地方都可以享受折扣。

The Erwin High \"Committed Class of 2000\"would like to encourage your class to start a program like ours. Wouldn't it be awesome if the entire class of 2000， nationwide， had a 100 percent graduation rate? Who knows? Maybe it can!

歐文高中“2000級”愿意激勵你的班級開展一項和我們一樣的計劃。如果全國2000級都有百分之百的畢業(yè)率會不會很厲害呢？誰知道呢？或許可以的！

◆編輯：夏天兒