WELLESLEY, Mass. — In a letter to parents and students, Wellesley High School said it canceled Friday’s “United States” theme as part of Spirit Week to avoid controversy and politicization.
Spirit Week at Wellesley High aims to unify the school before the Thanksgiving football game. Students dress up and match each day’s theme.
Some themes this week included Throwback Thursday and Wild West Wednesday.
“The administration was not going to allow this to happen,” Spagnuolo said. “It wasn’t a topic of discussion.”
Olivia Spagnuolo is a member of the school’s Student Unification Program. Each year, the group offers daily themes. Their “USA Day” theme was quickly abandoned.
Spagnuolo added: “They said it wasn’t allowed because it separated people at school.”
Director Jamie Chisum apologized for the pushback caused by the decision, explaining in a letter to the community:
“The high school administration decided not to pursue this spiritual theme because it seemed really different from the other themes the kids proposed for the week. We felt the topic was politicized beyond our school and we wanted to avoid politics. We had Mismatch Monday, Tropical Tuesday, Western Wednesday, Team Jersey Thursday and today was Fitness Friday. Monday is Monochrome Monday and Tuesday is Pajama Day. Spirit Week is intended to be a light and fun way for our students to get excited about our Thanksgiving pep rally and football game.
“We recognize that the impact for some people has been simply the opposite of our intention and that we have inadvertently politicized this activity. I am truly sorry for any negative effect this has had on children and families. “
The school said students could wear their patriotic gear, but the theme would remain Fitness Friday.
Some students and parents still wore their Friday red, white and blue.
“I think this is absurd,” one parent said as they picked up their child. “I think it’s sad and depressing that we’re at this point where celebrating America is political.”
The school’s student unification program says that idea has also been vetoed by the school administration in recent years.
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