A word of warning: this story is very likely to make you just as angry as it did me when I first heard about it. But the story needs to be told, and more questions need to be asked.
In Wichita, Kansas, a man by the name of Ken Thiessen, the principal at?Wichita East High School, ordered a special needs student,?Michael Kelley, who has Down Syndrome and autism, to remove a letter jacket the boy’s family purchased for him. Michael, you see, loves basketball and plays on the special needs team at the school. His parents thought the jacket would make him feel like he’s just one of the kids.
Michael’s mother,?Jolinda Kelley, says she was told that varsity letters are only available to players who letter in a varsity sport. She also said:
“Another parent, from what I am told, was upset that my son was wearing his letter jacket.?
Which naturally raises the question: What kind of a heartless, unfeeling, insensitive jerk do you have to be to complain about a young man with special needs wearing a freaking jacket?!
Principal Thiessen was asked why the school doesn’t make exceptions or at least allow special needs students to also earn letter jackets. His response was nearly as ineffectual and empty as the principal himself:
?We have considered it, and our decision was no. We decided that is not appropriate in our situation because it is not a varsity level competition.?
But you’re the principal, right? Decisions can be reversed or amended. The policy isn’t written on stone tablets, is it? And even if it is, you could always take a hammer to them if it would add some sunlight to a young man’s day.
Michael’s mother says she would like the see the policy changed, and I’m betting everyone who reads this article would, as well. As Ms. Kelley so eloquently noted:
?It’s not just my son. It’s every student that was out there last night. It’s every student that’s there on Fridays that plays their hardest and to the best of their capability regardless what that is.?
And isn’t that the true nature of sports? To give your best, win or lose; to be a part of a team and sacrifice of yourself in order to help others? Aren’t those the values we want our children to learn and carry forward into the future?
My plea to Principal Thiessen is this: Let Michael Kelley wear his letter jacket and to hell with those who complain. Some things are more important than the narrow-minded squawking of a few haters who will never possibly understand or appreciate what a letter jacket means to this remarkable young man.
