Greetings, Dragon Nation! It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to share a few thoughts with you as we start out on the second marking period. Fall Festival, Spirit Week, and Homecoming are now behind us, but we can look forward to the coming holiday season and some time off with friends and family.

I would like to focus my message today on the issue of honor. Over the past few weeks, we have seen a significant uptick in honor code violations being reported to the administrative team. Rather than talk about the intrinsic value of being honorable, I wish to be very straightforward in describing what acting in a dishonorable way does to you and others. There is more at stake than just a grade on an assignment.

Let’s start with how being dishonorable affects your classmates. Imagine that you are sitting in the commons and overhear a student bragging about how they cheated on an assignment and got an A while you studied hard and got a B. How would you feel? Would you want to make someone else feel that way? Tests, quizzes, and assignments are tools used by teachers to measure how well they have taught a concept and how well you have learned it. Cheating or plagiarizing diminishes that process and leads to an inaccurate assessment of your learning and progress. The teacher thinks you have mastered a concept when you have not and moves forward with the content when you aren’t ready for it.

In terms of consequences for dishonorable actions, they can be pretty severe. The standard practice is to assign a “0” on the assignment or test. In addition, the policy states that you will be prohibited from joining an honor society for two years, be removed from any honor societies of which you are currently a member, and be barred from running for any elected office on campus. You may even have to report it on a college application! All of this because you chose to take a shortcut on an assignment.

All of us understand that the academic environment at MLWGS is rigorous and challenging.

So what do you do when your assignment load is heavy and you are pressed for time and cheating or plagiarizing seems like the only way out? Talk to your teacher! Ask for help! You would probably be surprised at how much the teachers are willing to help you if you reach out to them. Work with your counselor to learn how to manage your time and stress. Remember that decisions made at 2 AM are never good ones! Don’t sacrifice your honor for a quick fix to a bigger problem.

In closing, our school is built upon a culture of trust. We trust each and every one of you until we are given a reason not to trust you. I hope that you can trust me unless I have given you a reason not to trust me. Trust and honor transcend school and are applicable in life. I trusted that the doctors taking care of me didn’t cheat their way through medical school! Now, go forth and do great things while keeping your honor clean!