Petition to Wear Graduation Cords, Millbrook High School

Dear Mrs. King and to Whom else it may concern,

Graduation is coming up, and this year’s senior class is anticipating June 13th, as they have been anticipating it for the last four years. Graduation day is a day of celebration for the students, their families, and the school. It is a day in which these students stand in front of an audience proud of what they have accomplished, showing off their achievement.

Not only did these students achieve a high school diploma, they accomplished many other things on the way, such as honors and awards. These honors and awards are what make each student unique, as they show which interests and talents each student chose to pursue. I am asking that the graduating class of 2017 be able to wear their cords at the graduation ceremony on June 13th. Although it may seem proper not to allow students to be adorned with cords because other students did not achieve these merits, those students are not being shamed, rather the success of the students who did obtain these cords is being ignored. These students have worked diligently to be granted access into prestigious Honor Societies, just to have that accomplishment go unnoticed. Students at Millbrook High School have put countless hours into making these Honor Societies great. The school system awards varsity letters for athletes and JROTC cadets, but this type of recognition is not given for academia. Graduation is one of the few times students should be able to display symbols of their academic success.

Other Wake County high schools, such as Enloe, Leesville, Sanderson, and more, grant their students the opportunity to show their peers, teachers, and families the good they have done in their school, by wearing cords. The practice of prohibiting students from wearing cords is perpetuating a society where individuals receive no benefit or recognition for striving for and achieving more. Every student has an equal opportunity to join these honor societies if they desire. Strength in a society lies in its diversity and to not recognize achievement is to encourage mediocrity.

I understand your concerns of other students feeling excluded or of a number of students wearing an abundance of cords, however this will not be the case. Most Honor Societies are mutually exclusive, meaning you cannot be in one whilst being in the other, such as the language Honor Societies.

Christine Long (left) and Emma O’Brien (right), graduated from Enloe High School in 2016 and were able to and proud to wear the symbols of their success in high school. This posed no problems for their peers or their school’s administrators. Long is dressed in a cord for NHS, Student Council and Quill & Scroll. O’Brien is wearing a cord for Dance Ensemble and both wear a medal for being top 25% of their class. Other students wore pins given by Key Club and other academic achievements.