Lourdes was unfair in punishment; Tri-Valley disrespected coal mining

Published: February 24, 2010

Article Tools
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
Our Social Networks
Facebook
Facebook
Sign Up newsletter

To the editor: I am writing this letter to comment on a complaint with Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School pertaining to an incident that occurred on Feb. 14 at the PIAA girls' basketball game against Tri-Valley High School.

It was during this game several of the students from Tri-Valley had "inappropriate" clothing attire on their persons, which was blatant mockery of my son's, alumni and regional citizens' cultural heritage.

Several of the students from Tri-Valley physically altered clothing to depict coal mining instruments, verbally degraded the coal-mining industry at the above-mentioned scholastic event. To shame individuals publicly regarding their ethnic heritage is appalling.

Students from Our Lady of Lourdes were attired in jeans, short-sleeved shirts and pink John Deere baseball caps, which were not altered in any fashion.

As an alumna of Our Lady of Lourdes, I am ashamed of how the school administration handled this set of unfortunate events. Our students were punished for simply having jeans, flannel shirts and baseball caps as attire at this event, when Tri-Valley students attired themselves with the altered shirts and various mining equipment as they verbally degraded our cultural heritage of coal mining, yet the students from Tri-Valley High School received no punishment for their actions at this event. Neither PIAA officials at this game or Tri-Valley administration took action regarding their students who attended this event. Yet Our Lady of Lourdes did take action, inappropriate at that, by suspending their students for attire which was NOT altered and could easily be bought at any local clothing store

The Shamokin-Coal Township area has deep roots with coal mining as a way of life. My great-grandfather was a coal miner, and so was my grandfather. Both were proud of this tradition and what they did for a living. They had moral values and were hard-working individuals who risked their lives.They lacked monetary compensation for these daily risks they endured, but they had deep respect for who they were. No, they didn't have advanced schooling, but what they did have was a fierce sense of pride, It is this pride that carries forward, generation to generation. Many of our forefathers died for this heritage.

I am proud to say my grandfather was a coal miner. He may only have been a coal miner, but he was a loving, hard-working man who provided for his family and gave his life in the process of doing so.

As stated directly, the mission of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School is "to educate students to recognize and develop their gifts of nature and grace by fostering their worth and dignity as children of God." The school failed in this aspect of fostering the students, worth and dignity by allowing the students of Tri-Valley to degrade such a deeply embedded, culturally rich heritage and sense of worth that is ingrained in this area. Our students were punished scholastically, but also morally degraded, and the sense of dignity for their heritage was made a mockery of.

Sincerely,

Marybeth Smith

Ads by Yahoo!






Type in the characters you see in the picture below. If you have trouble reading the characters in the picture, click it to see a new one.



4 posted comments

Your son was thoroughly warned about this by various levels of authority at his school and chose to "push it" anyway. Do you want him to do this sort of thing (push authority to the edge) when he's a graduate and a working citizen? Do you think employers want this attitude? Keep supporting it. See how successful he becomes with this sort of backing.
Report
a parent,  02/25/10 3:20
I think we're looking a this the wrong way. If what our students did was innocent (dressing up like farmers) then why is what the Tri-Valley kids did degrading and indignant? The whole problem is that it is harmless high school fun for the sake of school spirit. One Tri-Valley teacher (and Lourdes alum, to boot!) over reacted and everything that happened after has been insane.

Also, there are as many coal miners in Tri-Valley school district as there are farmers. I don't think what they did was done to be degrading.

Report
Anon,  02/24/10 10:32
The rumor is that students were told specifically not to dress up for the game after a complaint (by former Lourdes alum) after a previous game (who then complained again.) Supposedly, the suspensions are for disobeying that directive, not for the actual school spirit. But we agree, the whole this is nonsense. We'd like to know who the alum was who complained.
Report
Another OLOL Alum,  02/24/10 10:15
It's called rivalry! everybody needs to take a chill.
Report
Big D,  02/24/10 2:25