“They that
believe shall mount up with wings as Eagles.” Who would of thought that these 10 words would cause such a stir? My name is Brianna Rux and I am a Senior at Mckenzie High School. Our Senior class has been through a lot in this first part of the year due to the loss of a classmate and the fate of another one still unknown. The one thing I do know is that our class has chosen to come together in our own way and
believe that in all things greatness can come. Through the tragedy we have been through
believing in anything positive has been a difficult task but we have all come together after the death of our friend and found a common entity to pull us together. Those 10 words are not our religious stand; they are words to best describe us as individuals and as Eagles, (our school mascot). For some we take the words and look for comfort
believing our classmate is in a more powerful and greater place than we are.
For others they look at these words as an inspiration to dig deep inside ourselves and know that we can make great things happen if we
believe.
The senior class of 2008 at Mckenzie High School was set to use these 10 words as our class motto for graduation but because it is declared “to religious” we are not allowed to use it. I guess as a student at McKenzie High School, which is like my second home, I would of expected those in charge to see our meaning and our views of those 10 words and support our beliefs that we can mount up with wings as Eagles. Instead we are met with “it’s to religious” as an excuse to veto it as our class motto. I feel betrayed by those who should of stood up for us, instead, felt it better to beat us down in a time when we are trying to find a light at the end of a tunnel. Instead of believing in us they are stepping back for what might be a belief we want to make a religious statement that could cause a lawsuit, I could go on with point after point about things that could be to religious for a public school such as, Christmas and the Pledge of Allegiance, these things are always being scrutinized as being to religious. But these10 words? We used this motto for our homecoming and we were voted first place for decorating and motto by the high school staff. What about freedom of speech? Whether or not we have valid points I feel the school has chosen to believe this as a religious issue, when all we were trying to do was make our statement by believing. Believing in ourselves, believing we can fly, soar and mount up with wings as eagles. We need to believe to survive.
In closing I believe we will be choosing a new motto for our class knowing and believing it will not share the same meaning or belief for us and only because we have ran out of time to fight for what we believe in. I guess those who do not believe in us have won the battle. Thank you all for listening and maybe someday our faith in others can be restored.
Brianna
