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News & ArtsFriday, December 12, 2008
City Garfield High School Students Walk Out to Support Basketball Star Booted From School
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 12:39 PM
A number of Garfield High School students walked out of class at noon and are apparently marching down to Seattle School District headquarters to protest the district's recent ruling that Garfield sophomore and star basketball player Tony Wroten Jr. is ineligible to attend the school as he does not meet residency requirements.
"We heard rumors that there might be a protest," says Seattle Public Schools spokesman David Tucker. "I don't know how many have actually left or are in route. It's not the entire student body." Tucker says about 1600 students attend Garfield.
I'll update as more info becomes available.
5
Jonah,
I read the front page story in this morning's Seattle P-I.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/preps/3918…
Seems odd to me that this is big news least of all, to warrant front page status. Whatever the case, it is a foolish reason to cut classes. Also, from the article it appears there is a waiting list for resident students to attend a class there. I don't think he deserves special consideration because he's especially good at basketball. His parents should consider his education first not his basketball skills.
I read the front page story in this morning's Seattle P-I.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/preps/3918…
Seems odd to me that this is big news least of all, to warrant front page status. Whatever the case, it is a foolish reason to cut classes. Also, from the article it appears there is a waiting list for resident students to attend a class there. I don't think he deserves special consideration because he's especially good at basketball. His parents should consider his education first not his basketball skills.
6
Um. Sending him to Renton schools instead of Garfield would hardly be better for his education. So, maybe his parents really are thinking of his education first--it's not like he couldn't be a star basketball player at Renton or Hazen or Lindberg (or where ever). Renton schools have gotten better, but still... not exactly world class.
9
I'm pretty sure a lot of non-basketball star Garfield students are not residents either. The practice of admitting top athletes to prestigious high schools isn't exactly new. Hoop Dreams, anyone? Who knows, maybe this Tony will become a hipster with movie star friends like Baron Davis. The creation of another black hipster is good business for blogs and bloggy people, so we should support this protest.
10
About 200 students walked out and down to the Stanford Center where they found the doors locked. My student told me no adults came out to talk with them to address their grievances. Our son was protesting the district using distict detectives to follow a student to determine his residence. Tony Wroten Jr is being missed at Garfield as a STUDENT & community member. the sports aspect is just the flashy part of the story. The Wroten family wanted Tony to finish his education at Garfield. A damn fine SCHOOL. The students at Garfield are fiercely loyal to each other & have worked hard to build their community in the face of a very difficult year. Thanks to ASB president Zawdie Stephens-Terry for his excellent & level headed leadership.
12
If any of you would bother reading the articles you would see that they kid has been going to neighborhood schools in that neighborhood since elementary school.
I'll bet my tax dollars don't regularly go to hiring private investigators to investigate residency of students who AREN'T basketball stars.
Why the fuck were we paying a PI for this shit. Hell I dont' know. And I hate basketball.
I'll bet my tax dollars don't regularly go to hiring private investigators to investigate residency of students who AREN'T basketball stars.
Why the fuck were we paying a PI for this shit. Hell I dont' know. And I hate basketball.
13
Protesting school closures? Nope.
Two wars, some of them are sure to be sucked into? Nope.
Social inequality, which is something most of them live with day in and out? Nope.
Stupid Basketball non-issue? HELL YES!!!
USA! USA! USA!
Two wars, some of them are sure to be sucked into? Nope.
Social inequality, which is something most of them live with day in and out? Nope.
Stupid Basketball non-issue? HELL YES!!!
USA! USA! USA!
14
@13,
Either you didn't take notice at the time or you have a short memory, but Seattle students did cut class and took to the streets to protest the Iraq war.
Either you didn't take notice at the time or you have a short memory, but Seattle students did cut class and took to the streets to protest the Iraq war.
17
@1/16:
Actually, he can, and has been able to since middle school. And he's a point guard. His job isn't to dunk (which he can), it's to help keep the ball moving, finding the open shots, and keeping the team together.
You don't need to be able to dunk to be a great player. Dunking isn't the point of basketball. It's a flashy move players do to add hype and get the crowd on their feet.
@4/15:
To say this isn't a good cause is just being ignorant.
For one, Tony is missing out on his education becuase he has yet to go back to school. Finals are coming up, and if he stays out of school for much longer, he'll most likely fall behind becuase he has so much to do. He wants to play basketball, too, and if he transfers he won't be able to play becuase of the rules. He has so much on the line at this point, and he could lose it right here.
@7:
If we did that, the entire US would still be in school, and Canada would take us over.
We have a reason to protest, and we acted upon it. Tony being kicked out isn't the only thing the district has done lately. No more yellow buses, less school dances, they even kept school open on a day that should have been canceled becuase the roads were iced over. Drivers (both bus drivers and friends of mine who drive to school) were complaining about how worried they were on that day.
@9:
There are definitly other non-resident students at Garfield and other schools.
@12:
The district has salary secured jobs for people to investigate residency issues. Tony isn't the first student to be investigated for residency issues, nor is he the only one.
Garfield students aren't all bad, and not all of the look for a reason to cut school.
Many other students would have participated in the walkout, if we had more time to organize it and if schedules weren't so conflicting. Adults don't really seem to care becuase they all think students just want to cut class. It's no wonder kids do bad things - it's what's expected of them whether the student has a history or not. If you actually talked to the students who knew Tony well, they could give you a speech about how unfair everything is. He was suddenly kicked out of the district (right before basketball season if I might add), there are other students who have yet to get kicked out for this reason, and he's a good friend.
I can't say I know Tony all that well myself, but I know for a fact that he's cared about by the student body, and not just becuase he can ball, but becuase he's grown up with many of us.
More...
Actually, he can, and has been able to since middle school. And he's a point guard. His job isn't to dunk (which he can), it's to help keep the ball moving, finding the open shots, and keeping the team together.
You don't need to be able to dunk to be a great player. Dunking isn't the point of basketball. It's a flashy move players do to add hype and get the crowd on their feet.
@4/15:
To say this isn't a good cause is just being ignorant.
For one, Tony is missing out on his education becuase he has yet to go back to school. Finals are coming up, and if he stays out of school for much longer, he'll most likely fall behind becuase he has so much to do. He wants to play basketball, too, and if he transfers he won't be able to play becuase of the rules. He has so much on the line at this point, and he could lose it right here.
@7:
If we did that, the entire US would still be in school, and Canada would take us over.
We have a reason to protest, and we acted upon it. Tony being kicked out isn't the only thing the district has done lately. No more yellow buses, less school dances, they even kept school open on a day that should have been canceled becuase the roads were iced over. Drivers (both bus drivers and friends of mine who drive to school) were complaining about how worried they were on that day.
@9:
There are definitly other non-resident students at Garfield and other schools.
@12:
The district has salary secured jobs for people to investigate residency issues. Tony isn't the first student to be investigated for residency issues, nor is he the only one.
Garfield students aren't all bad, and not all of the look for a reason to cut school.
Many other students would have participated in the walkout, if we had more time to organize it and if schedules weren't so conflicting. Adults don't really seem to care becuase they all think students just want to cut class. It's no wonder kids do bad things - it's what's expected of them whether the student has a history or not. If you actually talked to the students who knew Tony well, they could give you a speech about how unfair everything is. He was suddenly kicked out of the district (right before basketball season if I might add), there are other students who have yet to get kicked out for this reason, and he's a good friend.
I can't say I know Tony all that well myself, but I know for a fact that he's cared about by the student body, and not just becuase he can ball, but becuase he's grown up with many of us.
18
I was really into this story until I saw that the ASB president was named "Zawdie," at which point the ridiculousness of it all overwhelmed me and I had to lay down.
20
some of these comments are RIDICULOUS. "i was really into this story until i saw that the asb president was named Zawdie..."
never heard that one before, judging people by FUCKING NAMES.
i was one of the students who walked out and at first i didn't agree with it. i thought "why should he get special consideration over other people?"
but when i heard his dad speak, it changed my mind. He mentioned that this could happen to any one of us, and then i realized that we weren't protesting solely for Tony, we were protesting against the system.
It may seem like we were only protesting for Tony, but it just took a "basketball star" to get kicked out to make us realize that this is actually a serious issue and no one deserves to get kicked out of their home no matter where they live.
BULLDOGS!
never heard that one before, judging people by FUCKING NAMES.
i was one of the students who walked out and at first i didn't agree with it. i thought "why should he get special consideration over other people?"
but when i heard his dad speak, it changed my mind. He mentioned that this could happen to any one of us, and then i realized that we weren't protesting solely for Tony, we were protesting against the system.
It may seem like we were only protesting for Tony, but it just took a "basketball star" to get kicked out to make us realize that this is actually a serious issue and no one deserves to get kicked out of their home no matter where they live.
BULLDOGS!
22
@18
wow, I'd say you're a racist ass but you probably already know that.
Zawdie is amazing. He's getting the student body involved as much as he can by sending messages to other students so they know what is gong on, asking students to tell him what we want or think should be addressed, and he's building a stronger student government so students have a stronger voice, and you have the nerve to judge him cause he doesnt have a name you like or seems strange?You really are a racist ass.
wow, I'd say you're a racist ass but you probably already know that.
Zawdie is amazing. He's getting the student body involved as much as he can by sending messages to other students so they know what is gong on, asking students to tell him what we want or think should be addressed, and he's building a stronger student government so students have a stronger voice, and you have the nerve to judge him cause he doesnt have a name you like or seems strange?You really are a racist ass.
23
Yup.
I'm only a sophomore, but Zawdie is actually a great ASB Pres (good, since he kinda ran unopposed)...
I am ashamed of the district. I have 2 younger siblings, at Washington & Lowell, both in APP. The school closures issues, and this, and all kinds of things are just awful.
I'm only a sophomore, but Zawdie is actually a great ASB Pres (good, since he kinda ran unopposed)...
I am ashamed of the district. I have 2 younger siblings, at Washington & Lowell, both in APP. The school closures issues, and this, and all kinds of things are just awful.
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