on edit: exactly HOW does one go through BOOT CAMP at the same time going to HIGH SCHOOL???<snip>
SAN DIEGO — Steven Kiernan, 17, has two dreams: One is to become a Marine, and the other is to wear his Marine dress-blue uniform to his high school graduation.
Kiernan is close to achieving the first.
He has finished all but the final days of the grueling 12-week boot camp in San Diego.But his goal of wearing his uniform to Petaluma High School's graduation on June 11 appears thwarted.
The principal of the Northern California school notified Kiernan's parents that school rules require that all graduates wear the traditional cap and gown.
Jim Kiernan, Steven's father, plans to appeal the decision to the Petaluma school board at its meeting Tuesday.
"The Marine Corps has traditions, but I guess the school district has traditions too, and the different traditions have collided," he said in a telephone interview.
Jim Kiernan, who works for a vineyard management company, said he was not so much angered by the decision as he was puzzled. Other graduates, he said, will be honored for their achievements, by wearing adornments on their caps or having their names read aloud.
"Finishing boot camp is my son's achievement, and I think he deserves to be honored too," Jim Kiernan said. He's a member of another school board in Sonoma County and says he knows that school boards can overrule principals.
In similar cases this spring involving young Marines returning to their high school graduations in Illinois and Wisconsin, school officials lifted the no-uniforms rule.
Steven finished his course work early at Petaluma High so he could start boot camp. His parents, somewhat reluctantly, signed his enlistment papers.
Principal Mike Simpson said he sympathized with Steven and respects his decision to enlist. Simpson's father was a Marine who saw combat in World War II.
Still, Simpson said, rules are rules.
"The intent of a graduation ceremony is not to individualize, but to show that all the graduates are part of the same class," he said. "If we do differentiate, it's because of academic achievements."
The phone call last week to the Kiernans, after hearing of Steven's desire to wear his dress blues, was not easy to make, Simpson said. He said he remembers talking to Steven when he was taking a metal shop class. The youth was wearing a Marine T-shirt, Simpson said.
"He's a great kid, and we're all proud of him," Simpson said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-me-grad19may19,0,202776,print.story
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
