“Points!!!!” shouts the teacher.
“What?!?! Why?!?!”
asks the student.
“For violating
the dress code, by wearing green shoes!” exclaims the teacher.
People, this
policy is history!
For years, students
have been pushing the dress code as far as they could, trying to show just
a little bit of originality in their uniform attire. Some teachers
have been oblivious, others have been constantly bombarding the students
with points.
Finally, two
students, Alec Shuster and Matthew Westenhaver, decided to do something
about it. They drafted a petition, and they were determined to fill
it with signatures.
The tenacious
boys went around the junior high pestering students to sign it, and slowly,
their signature count grew. Soon, they had 10, 20, 40, 60, and finally
73 signatures from students, and 6 teacher signatures.
“I always believed
in it; if [we] got enough signatures, it would pass, but when it went to
Mrs. Schwartz and Mr. Higgins, I did not think it would pass. I was
surprised when it did,” tells Carrie M.
Alec S. and
Matthew W. got dressed up in suits, wore the shoes that they wanted to
wear, and approached Mrs. Schwartz and Mr. Higgins with the petition.
“What impressed
me about the petition was that it was well-written, and Matthew W. and
Alec S. proceeded to get all those signatures,” states Mrs. Schwartz.
Alec S. and
Matthew W. came back with their heads held high, with news that the petition
had passed! Some students were excited, others were indifferent.
“Yeah, it worked,”
Alex G. said while studying for a history test.
When Mr. Higgins was asked
if he had known about the petition before hand, he replied, “I didn’t have
a clue.”
Both Mr. Higgins
and Mrs. Schwartz say, “The teachers should not become stricter or more
lenient about the shoes.”
“I will always
remember the Class of 2008; the petition was just another plus, it left
a piece of them behind for generations to come,” added Mrs. Schwartz. --
Maddie J. and Matthew W.
