The principal of Woodland High School in Washington John Shoup, has banned the wearing of military stoles at graduation, due to his belief that “anybody can join the military.”
Normally students traditionally wear an honor stole emblem representing the branch of military they’re going into after high school, but not on this anti-American principal’s watch….and a mother on Facebook spoke out about how she was not having it.
Top 5% and has a love for wanting to serve our country?
Congratulations! That Navy stole looks quite regal on you, I must say.
This type of discrimination directly goes against their school policy as well.
If you would like to vocalize your malcontent to this military hating principal, you may do so here…
And here….
Of course, he looks EXACTLY how I thought he would.
The school also has an “affirmative action” officer for discrimination cases…even though affirmative action heavily disenfranchises students (in particular, Asian American students the most) from moving through our college systems based on scholastic merit alone. The very same scholastic merit, that this principal doesn’t think our military driven students can earn on their own.
UPDATE: Woodland High School has officially commented on the matter, but all they did was dance around an excuse. In a statement that was released, they claim that only academic achievements are allowed…but then also turn around and say, “only two Navy kids showed up with stoles” so they didn’t want to not include the other branches by letting them walk. It’s a way to blame the students that were standing up against the school, by using the other kids that didn’t bring one because they weren’t supposed to anyway against them.
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Oooo man, he’s gonna regret this decision I feel.
Gee by the goofy look on his face I’m sure he is against the LGBTQ ban President Trump upheld
First of all, it’s hard to take this article seriously when it has so many grammatical errors. But, I want to assure you that most high schools do NOT allow military stoles at graduation. I am a high school teacher, and have taught in 5 different school districts in Washington and Arizona — none of those districts allow military stoles. Some schools may allow them, but not all. I support and admire any young man or woman who joins the military … but graduation is about their school accomplishments, not what they are doing after high school. There are plenty of other groups of students who earn outside honors and awards also do not get to wear those emblems/stoles of those at graduation. My own son earned an Engineering stole from college – he wasn’t allowed to wear it with his cap and gown, and that was fine. You are trying to create controversy where there isn’t any. It is unfair of you to call the principal “unamerican,” and double unfair to disparage him because of his appearance. This article is amateurish and ill-written. Next time, do some research before you make such broad statements, and leave the ad hoc fallacies behind.
I will disagree with you regarding what graduation is about. I may be wrong, but I’m sure that I don’t stand alone. I’ve been to dozens of school graduation ceremonies, as I’m sure you have. I cannot think of one commencement speech which did not have a focal point on the future. Making it to graduation IS an accomplishment for many students. For a select few, the goal was enlistment. I, for one, am proud of them.
LOL,
You taught in Arizona and say it’s normal?
I call you out.
I graduated from West High in Phoenix. Mid 70’s.
If you had a Military designation you could wear it.
My son’s Principal announced military services for each student enlisted.
If they had a stole they could wear it.
Why do you suppose they are made.
If it was commonly not allowed there would be no market for them.
I’m sure in Leftist Washington it’s banned but don’t lie and say it’s rare everywhere.
That’s just not true.
And by the way, I write grammatical errors into things on purpose, just to grab people who feel they are the better person for catching it.
It’s ill-written because she directly pasted one of the mother’s comments from Facebook. Has nothing to do with the author of the article. She was just trying to preserve the statement of the mother in its entirety.
Conjunction junction what’s your function? If you are going to talk about grammatical errors you should look no further than yourself! You call yourself a teacher and yet have so many errors yourself?
USMC currently enlisted, graduate with two bachelors and now a graduate student working on his Ph.D. suck a giant wad of dicks.
High schools allow rainbow lgbtqrstuv sashes and stoles. Yet they don’t allow military stoles? Yes, because who you sleep with is an achievement in high school too I suppose?
Cultural Marxism hard at work
Hey Karla let me put it into perspective. So if high school graduation is “not (recognizing) what they are doing after high school” then why read off scholarships? Why let students stand if they’re going to “higher education” post high school? Why read off the total amount of scholarship money earned? When that total is read off you know how it goes…before the addition of GI Bills the grand total is $123,456 and now to add the 3 GI Bills. The new total is $456,789!
Oh and by the way Kalama let the class of 2016 graduate with their military stoles, chords and any additional honors earned. You know why? Its because its these 17/18 year olds who’ve answered the call of duty for their country, who will end up deploying and risking life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the people of the union regardless of their view point.
And to make it clear. Why celebrate the the easiest and most wasted part of your life? Honestly, high school is a jail that holds kids from progressing and teachers, not state mandated curiculum, are to blame.
South Albany High School ceremony had graduates with them. Yes there is controversy that is worth having here. It is not easy to get into the military these days. Only 3 in 10 of adults between the ages of 18 and 22 are eligible to serve the greatest country in the world. The kids at Woodland High School were definitely discriminated against.
I don’t believe you have an accurate perception of the qualifications to enlist in any branch of the Armed Gorces. Contrary to your statement “anybody can enter the service” only qualified applicants can enlist. Qualification is determined by several steps, the first being successful completion of the ASVAB test which has been endorsed by educators over time as one of the better aptitude tests, one of the only screening tools that included spatial perception. Levels of aptitude range from Cat 1, 90-100; Cat 2, Cat 3,
Cat 4 and Cat 5 are not eligible for enlistment. Second step is a physical examination to determine standard of health and physical ability to endure the physical requirements of service, and a Third step an interview by impartial MEPS personnel to identify any disqualififying factors, such as criminal history. Then the individual recruiting service reviews the screening results and if acceptable, a contract is negotiated. So very clearly, just anybody cannot enlist in the service. Thae ASVAB is an indicator of how much an applicant has learned in school. Those achieving the higher test scores qualify for the more technical specialties. Many are motivated to meet the challenges of more physical and hazardous specialties. There is no requirement for higher scores for combat arms programs, but obviously the services want good decision makers in these skills.
In the case of Jonathon Ray, he has been selected for the Navy’s most technical and demanding specialties. Historically the Navy has developed the World’s safest and most successful Nuclear operation. Only the most intelligent, as indicated by the high ASVAB scores, qualify for this training. Jonathon is congratulated for his academic achievement and selection for one of the World’s most exclusive programs. His mother, Mrs Ray is rightfully proud of her son, as anyone who appreciates this exceptional achievement does. Educators don’t necessarily fall in this category. But then you know what they say, those that can, do and those that can’t, teach. I guess anybody can be a principal. USMC (Ret)
And those that can’t teach are administrators.
The douche hates the military because he probably failed the asvab…
that Major Mike was an awesome beat down, I salute you from a 30 year spouse of the USMC
Typical WOODLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT BEHAVIOR. They love to skirt around everything. Trust me this family knows. Just SO VERY GLAD both of my daughters will NEVER Have to deal with this district. It is just awful. To do what he did was DISCRIMINATION. Its all about who you know in the district and not what you know. If so and so knows this person they are in. If you are not a part of the click, you get treated unfairly. I hope KARMA comes back at him. Since when do we discriminate against the MILITARY. Sadly this is what he has done. SHAMEFUL
So literally, this situation was blown so far out of proportion, the truth isn’t even close. The mother who posted the rant went so far off base from the actual situation, people in town started investigating, and the conclusion was reached that we have a pissy little snot of a kid who went and whined to his mom (which I hope the military cures him of,) over something not quite as distasteful as it seems. The principal at WHS is a well known, well loved guy who contributes to the well being of students and community. Truly, he’s just a great guy. His stance on the military stole was not HIS stance. It’s the stance of the school, surrounding schools, and well, the US Navy. There are specifics to what can accompany your graduation accoutrement, and unless it was earned from a DIRECTLY EDUCATION RELATED FUNCTION SUPPORTED BY YOUR HIGH SCHOOL, you just can’t wear it, no matter how butt hurt that makes you. Honors Society, yes. Academic recognition, yes. Curricular contribution while enrolled in school, absolutely. Extra curricular recognition completely separate from school function (i.e. military enlistment, PD/Fire cadet school, etc…) nope. Those are personal accomplishments which have no place at graduation because it’s not a free for all. And by the way, the principal never said those words. That exchange never took place. Which would make sense, because he’s not an asshole. Stay off the internet if you can’t think rationally and consider that a mother’s immediate defense of her military bound son might be slightly misguided. I hope the military puts him in his place. I’d seriously rather die than know my own mother made that big of a stink in public right before I’m about to join the military.