Kellie Pickler: A Small Town Girl in Red High Heels

Kellie Pickler, American Idol of Season 5 would have been her preferred result of the talent competition, but the American television audience (and ultimate final judges of the contest) voted for the other very talented singers to progress to the final round. But Kellie Pickler is still the winner of a recording contract, and she is the first of the Season 5 participants to complete and release a complete album of songs.

Kellie Pickler sang a song that had been recorded by one of her American musical models, LeAnn Rimes, at her high school graduation in New London, North Carolina. On The Side of Angels was it's title, and they have been with her through her life.
High School in America has changed for the worse with "standardized testing" and "Exit Exams" adding to the already intense social pressure to fit-in and be popular. What happens to the 'C' students who don't make it through the initial audition process of life after graduation because their grades were to low for college and employers at large corporations want employees with job experience? If they are lucky they can find a job at a Sonic Drive-In, like Kellie Pickler did so she would have money for her basic needs.

Kellie Pickler might have wondered "Who is paying attention to the 'C' students?" and decided to concentrate on cheerleading and singing. Advanced Placement students receive the most attention, followed by the group "At Risk" for dropping-out before reaching the Exit Exams. "Standardized Testing" has increased the pressure on all but the top students (to them it is just another series of tests.) Unlike in Washington D.C. where the "Benchmarks that are not fixed timetables", school districts have to have continous improvement of the "Standardized Test Scores" as the years go by.

Many of the sub-'C' students end up in "Continuation Schools" or are enrolled in "Independent Study" programs which is a way for the school districts to avoid being penalized for having too many dropouts by the federal No Child Left Behind Program, which all schools accepting federal aid must comply with. It is the rare school district that refuses money from the federal government in Washington D.C. to maintain the American tradition of Local Control of the schools.

In the Los Angeles Unified School District all students are going to be required to take "College Prep" classes, how many more 'C' students are going to be turned into "Drop-Outs" by this policy?

While the originators of this policy have good intentions and are aided by the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, who sought to completely "take-over" the 750,000 student school district (which serves 21 smaller cities in Los Angeles County besides LA) himself has taken the Bar Exam several times and failed to "Pass the Bar" to become a practising attorney.

Like Kellie Pickler, the Mayor of Los Angeles decided to create a career for himself and started out to run for the California state Assembly, then acheiving that, for the Los Angeles City Council, then attaining the Mayor's office he now has his sights on the Governorship. From the Governor's Office he will be able to mount a campaign for the Presidency of The United States, becoming the first independent law school graduate to reach the the highest executive office in the land.

Kellie Pickler is the first American Idol Season 5 contestant to cmplete and release a CD album, Small Town Girl on 19 Recordings-BNA Records. Some people say that 'C' students are not hard workers, Kellie Pickler accomplished that even while touring with the American Idol "POP TARTS" musical show.

What does the future hold for America's 'C' students?

The business class at Kellie Picklersalma mater taught by Mandy Melton made Kellie Krazies T-shirts that were sold at Peter Asciutto'sVal & Dash "The South's Most Unique Specialty Store", in a program of the Stanly County Chamber of Commerce and North Stanly High School, giving the students a glimpse of what it takes to run a small business.

People complain that "Vocational" classes take students time away from academic courses but the North Stanly Kellie Krazies had to design the T-shirts logo (Art class), writing press releases for free advertising (English and Political Science classes) dealing with protecting the intellectual property rights (Business Law class) and doing stand-ups for television news (Speech class.) All those high schools subjects were used in learning how to market their product.

Kellie Pickler has turned out to be an American Idol after all.