A high school principal worth his pay.....and then some.

[trails4u]

I had the pleasure of attending my son's high school Senior Honor's Day ceremony this morning.... It was 2 hours long, and a really nice, well organized day of recognition for a bunch of kids that have done some really impressive stuff throughout their high school careers. It was fast paced....but they were meticulous in giving individual recognition for each of the children's accomplishments. It's a graduating class of 800+, so any individual recognition, by my measure, is impressive. Kudos to the staff for that.

BUT.....there were three points that just simply made me smile and get all teared up at the same time.

#1) The event was opened by the school's JROTC unit presenting the colors, and they did it as well as any color guard I've ever seen.

#2) Very early on in his opening remarks, the principal asked every Veteran in the crowd to stand, and then explained to his students very clearly that, without the sacrifice of these men and women, the opportunities they are being recognized for today would not exist. WOW! This was powerful and moving!

#3) Near the very end of the event, he told the crowd that he had 31 other individuals that he wanted to recognize. (Not in the program!) Name by name, he called the 31 students in his senior class to the stage who had committed to military service following high school. Each was given a red, white and blue braided cord to wear at graduation. And once they were all on stage, he told his students, once again, that their bright futures were secured by the choice of service and sacrifice made by those on the stage, as it had been done by the Veterans he recognized earlier. I will tell you that you've never heard 800 kids as quiet as those in that moment. He continued by saying that we will all stand and recognize these young men and women for their commitment to our Country. He didn't ask anyone to stand.....he said, "We will." …...and everyone in that building did.


#4) Full disclosure. Yeah...one of those kids is mine. And my allergies have been really bad all day since. Can't seem to get my eyes to stop watering.


#5) I'm not one to normally brag on 'educators', but if every principal in the land took this kind of message to his/her students....I think we might be better off.


Trails.

[Winger Ed.]

Those are the kids that will make America what it will be in the future.

The ones needing counseling because of the Games of Thrones TV show,
and the ones that have go to their safe space because something offended them- not so much.

[EDG]

I am reminded of a loud mouth R. Lee Ermy type retired Marine on another site.
He was always running his big mouth until details of his service surfaced.
The big blow hard served in the USMC long enough to retire but never served in a combat unit and was never sent over seas. His job for all those years? He was a recruiter. That is right. He recruited kids that might eventually occupy a body bag and he never served a single day in harm's way.

[Hannibal]

Two things -

1 - I do not personally know the Marine you speak of, and to my knowledge there is no such thing as a career recruiter. BUT, even if there was recruitment is an important and vital job. If the Marine performed these duties well, he still earned my respect and deserves yours.
If he claimed to have been involved in acts of valor that have been proven false, that's a different matter entirely, and I can not voice my opinion of such despicable behavior here.

2 - I find the gulf of approach in educators to be astonishingly wide. We have one graduation ceremony conducted as described by the OP, recognizing the efforts, accomplishments and future commitments of students, while others, such as the district in Ohio recently in the news, chose to eliminate even the recognition of Valedictorian and Salutation from the graduation ceremony 'in an effort.to better student's mental wellness'. I suppose next they will be issuing high school participation certificates and averaging grades for the entire class so that no one 'feels left out or inferior'.

I've got a news flash for these people. If you do not teach the consequences of failure, success becomes meaningless.

[jdfoxinc]

Socialism at its finest. Every one is equal dispite their effort or lack thereof

[obssd1958]

trails4u

Thank you for sharing this, and congratulations on raising a fine young man!!

This country needs more Principals like the one you describe, and more young men like the one you raised.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

trails4u -- sounds like someone's got it right. Too many stories about "educators" disparaging the military.

[popper]

They didn't make much noise about it but I guess it's because I was born into the era of returning GIs. GS principal was fighter pilot in Europe, SS teacher flew Thunderbolt, HS auto shop teacher had hearing aids, glasses like coke bottle bottoms ( Marine with grenade shrapnel in head), back door neighbor was from Korea conflict but didn't talk much about it. My recruiter was the best. 14 from my HS class and one went on to retire one star from Marine intelligence in DC. Lost one during Vietnam, on a DDS. Do you task and then get on with life.

[RED BEAR]

I am glad you're son had good people to guide him. it sounds like a far cry from my granddaughters graduation where the staff couldn't pat there self on the back enough for giving the kid's a quality education in social justice. It sounds like you raised a fine young man you should be proud.

As far as R Lee Ermy served just long enough to retire thats 20 years last i heard. Being a recruiter so what you go where you are told. Not serving in combat good for him at least for 20 years he was ready and willing to go. Anyone who looks forward to combat is nuts you go fight because it has to be done. Anyone who puts on a uniform and is willing to fight and possibly die deserves our respect period.

[trails4u]

I am reminded of a loud mouth R. Lee Ermy type retired Marine on another site.
He was always running his big mouth until details of his service surfaced.
The big blow hard served in the USMC long enough to retire but never served in a combat unit and was never sent over seas. His job for all those years? He was a recruiter. That is right. He recruited kids that might eventually occupy a body bag and he never served a single day in harm's way.

It wasn't like this at all.....apologies if I made it sound that way. It was a very respectful, albeit direct reminder that some choose to serve, and that our freedoms exist because of those choices. It wasn't ugly......at all. Quite the opposite.

[lightman]

That Principal sounds like a really Great Guy and a true Patriot. So many just don't have a clue. And my hat is off to your Son.

As to Military service. If they served, they have my respect. I doubt that any of them have control over what or where they were sent. I expect that its a huge unknown. The ones that saw combat certainly deserve respect but the ones that didn't also deserve it. I just don't have much respect for the ones that claim things that they didn't do.

My neighbor and friend was a Vietnam vet. One time I ask him about his service. You know, where were you, what did you do type questions. He actually got red in the face and embarrassed. He said he was a company clerk and never saw combat and never went on patrol, although he was in country. My reply was to quit being embarrassed, that you went where you were sent and did what you were assigned to do. My thinking is that you did your job.

[BrassMagnet]

That Principal sounds like a really Great Guy and a true Patriot. So many just don't have a clue. And my hat is off to your Son.

As to Military service. If they served, they have my respect. I doubt that any of them have control over what or where they were sent. I expect that its a huge unknown. The ones that saw combat certainly deserve respect but the ones that didn't also deserve it. I just don't have much respect for the ones that claim things that they didn't do.

My neighbor and friend was a Vietnam vet. One time I ask him about his service. You know, where were you, what did you do type questions. He actually got red in the face and embarrassed. He said he was a company clerk and never saw combat and never went on patrol, although he was in country. My reply was to quit being embarrassed, that you went where you were sent and did what you were assigned to do. My thinking is that you did your job.

Well said.
By the way, courage and skill win battles. Logistics wins wars.

[dangitgriff]

I served 10 years in the USN, am a Gulf War I vet whose father was killed in Vietnam, and subsequently raised by a Korean War Marine Corp vet. I currently work in the defense industry.
I have two sons of my own now and have not, nor will I ever, encourage them to enlist in any capacity in any branch of our armed forces so long as our leaders continue to fight wars of choice.
No one appears willing to ask if the nation as a whole actually benefits from all the illegal wars/police actions/conflicts we’ve chosen to initiate since WWII, which was the last Congressionally sanctioned and Constitutionally authorized use of our armed forces—the last LAWFUL declaration of war.
No one appears willing to question the political bent of the Supreme Court in interpreting the Constitution in a manner overly friendly to the Executive and Legislative branches of our government, regardless of which party occupies the White House or holds a majority in Congress.
Additionally, and most importantly, no one appears willing to ask how the United States government is currently capable of paying for 1,359,685 active duty servicemen and nearly 800,000 reservists spread across at least 800 bases around the globe while simultaneously carrying the largest-ever debt by a single country in history, which stands at 22 trillion dollars of public debt plus an additional 64 trillion of unfunded liabilities, all while our current debt-to-GDP ratio is right at 100%.
So, it appears to me we have a public education system that is aggressively and thoroughly indoctrinating and propagandizing our youth into the war machine pipeline which is unlawful, unconstitutional and unaffordable.
Toss in the nationalistic displays of military personnel and hardware at large-venue sporting events, parades and other historically non-military holidays for the hive-minded masses, and an objective observer might note that Roman and German history appears to be repeating itself.
No one appears willing to ask a vital question:
What could go wrong?

[Omega]

A declaration of war is not the only way Congress has to approve use of our military: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bil...jres23/summary

[dangitgriff]

A declaration of war is not the only way Congress has to approve use of our military: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bil...jres23/summary

If Congress can pass legislation to get around Constitutional restrictions, how much longer do you think it will be before they legislate themselves completely out of the restraints of the Constitution?
And—Do you really think we can keep borrowing against our future indefinitely?
Time is running out for America.
Tick-tock...

[dangitgriff]

Congrats,Trails4U, on your son’s graduation. Regardless of everything I said, there is still a lot to be proud of in this country and our kids are top of the list!

[osteodoc08]

Sounds like a well thought out ceremony in one of our red states. Congrats to your son and a thank you from my family to yours for service past present and future.

That being said, let’s keep this thread on track and not derail from the OP intentions.

[trails4u]

Thank you all for your kind words regarding my son. We are very proud of him, as we are of his older brother who is currently active duty with the Navy as well.

This post has gotten some responses that have been, uh....eye opening, I guess. I do appreciate the dialogue, and always embrace a good conversation about just about anything....but I wasn't trying to instigate any of that. I just wanted to say 'kudos' to a man who I think is doing the Principal thing right.

…..and I'll admit. re-reading my OP, yeah.....I think I let my pride show out a bit. Perhaps I should have swallowed that.....but that's not so easily done as it is said.

[Huskerguy]

I am a retired principal and have been going to HS graduations the last three weekends. This last one was in a HS with about 130 kids graduating and they were going through all of the color cords and what they were for. Everyone clapped in recognition of their accomplishment and the last group were those who were headed to the Military. The crowd was very excited and clapped for an extended time and there were lots of whoops and hollers. It was fun. I think there were 4-5 kids and one was a girl. This is in the home town of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Abilene, KS.

[bedbugbilly]

trails4u .. . . you're "allergies" must be contagious . . . .

Thanks for such an uplifting story . . . and I know how proud you must be of your son . .. may God bless and watch over all of those young men and women.

I'm guessing we won't be seeing this story on CNN, etc.

I'd love to see Fox cover this and 'get it out there"