Photo courtesy of Fox4.
High School senior Alto Tarver was excited to see his name listed under his high school’s list of students receiving awards for their summa cum laude status at Cape Coral High School in Cape Coral, Fla., according to FOX4.
The high school had its senior award ceremony, and the senior was qualified to win an academic award. However, Tarver was disappointed because his name didn’t appear on any academic award list.
Tarver was awarded for his achievements in basketball and football, having received the P.E. Award. But he was expecting to see his name on the academic achievement lists due to his hard work and extremely high GPA. He was on the national honors society, took IB classes and completed 200 hours of community service. The qualifications for summa cum laude is a grade point average of 3.7. Tarver’s GPA was 5.22.
“I was looking for my name, and I had seen it under physical education,” he said. “I felt almost betrayed…I feel like them giving me the PE award kind of put me back into that box that I tried so hard to get out of. It felt bad to feel like they only cared about my athletics, and how good I could make the school look.”
This fall, the new graduate plans to attend Florida State University, where he plans to study business and criminal justice. Tarver received an academic scholarship from Florida State due to his stellar academic performance at Cape Coral High School.
The Lee County School District claims that Tarver was awarded for more than his athleticism.
“Academic Awards are decided by merit and the student was honored with those that he earned. In addition, the principal nominated him for a statewide academic award and wrote a letter of recommendation for his college applications.”
Awards Tarver was eligible for, including the Principal’s Nest for Academic Excellence Award and the Involvement and Academic Excellence Award, awarded for multiple subjects.