Valedictorian complains of authoritative school, gets mic cut

Chris0nllyn

Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
On the chair to Butera’s left sat the principal, Jon Pollard, who barely looked up at him.
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He did not name Pollard among them — an omission not lost on one of the few people there who knew exactly how his speech would end.

“It was always Dr. Pollard,” Albert Sciandra, Butera’s friend and vice president in the student government, told The Washington Post. “He was the one who kept shooting everything Peter wanted to do down.”

The day before the ceremony, Sciandra said, the school had put on a talent show. Butera wanted to do a comedy skit: poke fun at the only teacher who ate the cafeteria lunch, stuff like that.

But such jokes were deemed too extreme, Sciandra said. “Peter rewrote them so many times. Pollard said, ‘You’re not doing it because I said so.’ ”
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All of high school had been like that, Sciandra told The Post. No matter that they’d both been in student government every single year, he said — any idea that went beyond decorations for some school-approved event got shot down.
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“Me and Peter, we went to every council meeting and school-board meeting,” Sciandra said. They packed the seats with students and parents and made speeches, and filled a petition with signatures.

And none of it mattered, the students said: The dress code passed anyway.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...hut-him-down/?utm_term=.79eab5297c5d#comments

 
Hijinx

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
Chris0nllyn said:
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess hard work and good grades.
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I am sure you are right, it just seems strange that a person who so obviously was in contrast with the Principal got the nod.
It is also pretty obvious from the Video, that the principal suspected this might happen Just a nod and the kid was off.
 
Chris0nllyn

Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
Hijinx said:
I am sure you are right, it just seems strange that a person who so obviously was in contrast with the Principal got the nod.
It is also pretty obvious from the Video, that the principal suspected this might happen Just a nod and the kid was off.
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I'm not positive, but if the Principal knew he had all the power, who was Student President (I think that's the main issue, i.e. a faux "student government" with little to no actual power to make decisions, not necessarily being valedictorian) probably doesn't matter.
 
Hijinx

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
Chris0nllyn said:
I'm not positive, but if the Principal knew he had all the power, who was Student President (I think that's the main issue, i.e. a faux "student government" with little to no actual power to make decisions, not necessarily being valedictorian) probably doesn't matter.
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I guess we will see if it matters. Lots of comments, lots of publicity. Who know yet if it matters or not.
 
Clem72

Clem72

Well-Known Member
Hijinx said:
I guess we will see if it matters. Lots of comments, lots of publicity. Who know yet if it matters or not.
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It won't. Student Government has always been a joke. Just a way to let the popular kids get bonus points on their college applications. Do you think any student government anywhere ever got to.....hire/fire a teacher, change a class curriculum, vote in school board spend plans, set behavior guidelines?

Probably the most "power" any of them ever had (outside of organizing dances and school trips) was maybe input on dress code, and possible a student jury system where the school let them decide punishments for very minor infractions (things that aren't codified in law or the school bylaws).
 
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