School project fares can be a great way to get kids to dig deep into a topic while also allowing them to help teach the other students.

What would you do if the school that your kids went to had very strict requirements for their history projects, but then just gave everyone a ribbon regardless of how much work they did?

That is what happened to the mom in this story, so the following year, she had her son pick a very controversial figure to do his project on, resulting in the school changing their rules.

Christian school compliance…

Each year at this particular school they required EVERY child in 5th grade and higher to do a science fair project and a history fair project.

These types of school projects can become great learning opportunities.

This was my son’s 7th grade history project.

You see the project had very strict rules and requirements, all of which we complied to each year.

All this seems pretty normal for a school, so far.

The school made a huge deal out of the “fair” aspect of it, even making it mandatory that the kids come to the fair which was after regular school hours.

Wait…what? Why?

So, each year we participated, as required and put a significant amount of time and work into each project, only to find out that the project itself was not graded or awarded on the quality or quantity of work.

Each year I was astounded to see how little effort would garner as passing grade and a lovely participation ribbon…yes a participation ribbon that said something along the lines of “great job!” or “way to go!”.

I’m sure this would make many kids (and parents) not want to put in much effort.

These ribbons were awarded to EVERY child for every project, no matter how terrible it was.

The school’s standards were going downhill and we were not getting our tuition’s worth. Combined grade classes, shared text books, a computer lab that was out of 1985.

They decided it was best to move on.

I had already decided at the beginning of the school year that we were going to switch schools starting the 8th grade year.

So, when history project time rolled around, we decided to see how far we could go and what we could get away with.

This should be fun.

The teacher sent home a worksheet for my son to fill out describing his topic. They were allowed to pick any topic as long as it was historical. W

ith a little too much excitement, we decided on “Vlad Dracul III” or as you may know him, Vlad the Impaler.

Hey, it is a character from history.

Fully expecting to be shot down for the nature of the topic, we filled out the worksheet and turned it in. Much to our surprise, it was approved.

My son spent the next month researching Vlad the Impaler and working on his project. We had a great time hitting the library and digging up all sorts of dark facts on Mr. Dracul.

It sounds to me like they are doing a great job on the project.

We included plenty of historical information to compliment the carnage and gory illustrations.

My son would often remark that there was no way the teacher or principal would let him display this at the history fair.

Good for him!

However, the project was completed and the board was to be on display at the fair. Here’s my son, proudly posing with the completed project board.

We arrived to the history fair and were giddy as we walked in and immediately saw our project set up, front and center.

I’m sure everyone did a good job.

The 7th and 8th graders shared a table at the front of the fair, showcasing the upperclassmen’s work to the those attending. I made the rounds and saw that everyone had the participation award hanging from their boards already.

I couldn’t help but notice some of the more religious parents steering their children away from our board.

You can’t be surprised that it ruffled some feathers.

The teacher came over and told my son he did a great job, but the principal just gave us dirty looks and shook her head.

I found out that the next year, they had to pick from a pre-approved list of topics for their history projects. LOL!

Is there something wrong with this?

This same school would not allow Halloween costumes but instead encouraged the kids to dress as their favorite bible characters.

And while it was very cliche, I did let my son dress as the devil…guess who was sent home?

Honestly, it sounds like this parent just likes to cause trouble. If you don’t like the rules of the school, why did she pay extra to send her son there?

Oh well, let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about the story.

I agree with this commenter.

Now that is a good teacher.

Well this doesn’t sound like much fun.

Here is someone who thinks it was a bad school.

This is what I was expecting as well.

If you don’t like the rules, maybe it is time to leave.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.