Proposals Vetoed By Student Council

A proposal to award academic as well as athletic letters has sparked a huge controversy at Lakeland High School.

Students and administrators gathered recently to discuss the proposal.

“I think outstanding students who have worked hard deserve to receive academic letters,” said Debbie Temple, secretary of the Lakeland High School student council and manager of numerous Lakeland sports teams. “We need to be recognizing academic excellence at Lakeland, not just athletic excellence. Both are of equal importance.”

Lakeland’s leadership class, which oversees student government at the high school, played an important role in the debate, Temple explained.

“We discussed the issue thoroughly with student council members from Timberlake and administrators from around the district,” she said. “Almost everyone had a strong opinion on the issue.”

Some students started arguments in class, and even teachers joined in the debates.

Then the school newspaper published an article written by athlete Matt Ridenour, entitled: “Letters for Letter Grades? Plan would take away meaning of letters.”

Some students were infuriated, including band members and honor students who said they felt the article undermined the importance of academic excellence. Students complained that the article damaged school spirit by promoting exclusivity in talent for athletics and not for academics.

Others said they worried the article downplayed the loyalty of band members who steadfastly attended football games throughout the season.

“When I see someone walking around wearing a letterman’s jacket, I immediately think to myself, `This person received that jacket by being talented enough to play a varsity sport, not that they got straight A’s or they played the tuba in band,”’ wrote Ridenour in his controversial article.

“It’s very disturbing to see someone walking out of the band room, who I know doesn’t play a varsity sport, wearing a letterman’s jacket with a picture of some type of musical instrument on the back. Doing so dilutes the meaning of earning a letter.”

Lakeland student Cassidy Eby is in the high school journalism class and witnessed the controversy first-hand. “A lot of people were upset with the article, at the tone of the author and his references to the school band program,” she said. “After all, it takes just as much hard work and dedication to play an instrument as it does to play sports.”

“Earning a letter is about making an extra commitment of your time to the high school, usually through an extracurricular activity,” said Lakeland High School band and choir director Mark Sescilla. “Whether you letter in band or in a sport, it doesn’t mean you have more or less talent. It means you have a certain level of proficiency and dedication.”

As the band instructor, Sescilla has had to defend his program. “It is key that all of the school groups, athletic and academic, work together to support one another. Students support the athletic programs, and the athletic programs should support activities such as drama and band. Not doing so tears apart school spirit and morale. To me, that was the most disturbing part of the article,” he said.

Although the newspaper article started heated arguments among students and teachers, official discussion on the issue of academic lettering was kept relatively quiet to avoid further controversy.

Two different versions of the plan were proposed. The initial design was to award the same letter used for athletics to students who earned an academic letter.

When this met with dissension from the student government, a second plan was submitted. Under the revised program, scholars were to receive a different letter than those awarded to athletes. Most students thought the revision would placate those who were concerned about preserving the tradition of the athletic letter.

Other high schools in the area, including Lake City, Coeur d’Alene, and Post Falls high schools, already have adopted academic letters that differ in appearance from their athletic letters.

At Lakeland, however, both proposals met with failure. The student council voted down both measures in a hushed referendum closed to public discussion. Most students did not even realize the vote had taken place.

“Surprisingly, most of the student council members voted against creating an academic letter,” said Temple. “I expected them to pass the measure, since most of the student council is made up of honor students.”

Although some students were disappointed at the outcome of the vote, others support the decision.

“Athletic achievement and academic achievement should both be recognized. However, they are different achievements, so they should be honored in different ways,” said Eby.

This sidebar appeared with the story: TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS

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