Why Celery Tower?

When I was in tenth grade, my Physical Science class was split into groups and instructed to built towers from celery and toothpicks. The group with the tallest tower that stayed standing the longest would win ice cream treats. The teams that attempted to utilize physics principles didn't have much success - celery doesn't seem to follow laws of physics. My group, on the other hand, decided the whole assignment was inherently stupid, so we just stuck toothpicks and celery together randomly to make the tallest structure possible.

We won the ice cream treats.

We won not because we had actually learned anything about physics, but rather because we had achieved a goal. Education today is less about learning and more about achievement, and this is causing the increasing mediocrity of America. My intent is to comment on instances of mediocrity - hence the title "Celery Tower."