FIRST Graduation Cords

[jfreds]

Originally Posted by jfreds

Just curious if anyone has anyone has been denied approval to wear cords to represent First by their school. This is the first year that our seniors have tried and because of other students putting up a protest, the principal told the robotics team that they could not be worn during the ceremony.

Thanks for all of the input. Being an Ex-school board member, the school board should set the policy that the administration enforces. I am still doing investigation to see if such policy exists. I would doubt it. To create a policy, it would have to be read at 2 school board meetings and voted on by the board.

You have hit the nail on the head. If the robotics team is allowed to wear cords, then likewise, the underwater basket weaving team should also be allowed to wear them. The bottom line is that the Minnesota State High School League now recognizes robotics as a sport and the members can now letter.

As a second year team that was able to participate in the World Championships in St Louis, MO this year, only because community members insisted that Industrial Education be reinstated in the district after a decade of absence, and to everyone's amazement a very successful robotics program grew from it.

I guess that the decision was made to allow the cords to be worn before and after the ceremony so that pictures can be taken. It's amazing how something that would only be worn by 7 or 8 seniors out of a class of 115 kids could raise such a controversy.

By the way, the reason for the post was not only to see what other schools are doing, but to also raise awareness that if some day you would like to see cords as part of the official ceremony in your district, regardless of their color, is to start early in helping to develop policy that makes sense for your school district.

Cords or not, I believe that this is one of the finest programs that our school has ever undertaken. It has brought together students from every demographic, that probably would have never met otherwise, and has created friendships and bonds and has improved the personal lives of the students that were involved for a lifetime. Thanks to everyone that is involved for a great year, one that will not soon be forgotten.... Jer