Rewriting history and white-washing reality, Principal Gorman is no longer referring to the just-concluded event as a “walkout”, but is now confusedly describing it as to an “assembly”, “civil disobedience”, “democracy”, and “civil debates”. Does he get paid by the word?:
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March 14, 2018
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Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s), Students, Faculty, and Staff:
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Today I write to you both as a father and a principal. In recent years, our schools and country have faced too much violence and too many innocent lives have been taken from us.
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On the one-month anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, we stand with our brothers and sisters in all schools to say “enough.” We mourn the victims and send our support to the Parkland community and all the others who have suffered similar tragedies.
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At 10:00 A.M., many Ridgewood High School students joined tens of thousands of teachers and students in solidarity. Students Demand Action, a newly formed club at RHS, led an assembly on the front lawn of the high school with speeches and a moment of silence. The students paid tribute to the victims of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and expressed their desire for safer schools. After 17 minutes, they returned to the building to resume class.
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Simultaneously, another newly formed student-led group assembled in the Campus Center to advocate for safer schools and Second Amendment rights. They also engaged in speeches and a moment of silence to pay tribute to the victims.
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Students who did not wish to participate in either assembly, remained in class with the teacher or, if on a free period, in the building with designated faculty members.
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The students of Ridgewood High School are passionate about their various causes. Today was no different. Having two differing student-led groups peacefully assemble at the school advocating for their causes was civil disobedience and democracy in action. What makes America and RHS so great is that we can have civil debates on sensitive subjects.
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Students, know that your cause does not end today. Your strength and purpose happens in what you do in the 18th minute and beyond. Your teachers have taught you how to debate issues, research subjects, and advocate for your causes. You have the skills and the power to make a difference. Many of you are eligible to vote and the rest will be of age within one to three years. I encourage you to listen to your heart and decide what you wish to do.
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Today’s solemn anniversary gives us a chance to pause and reflect upon what is truly important in life. So I offer these thoughts:
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I pray for all the victims of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, First Baptist Church, Pulse Night Club, and The Harvest Music Festival to name few of the most recent massacres. May the families and communities heal and find peace in their lives.
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I implore the lawmakers of this land to hear our plea and find the courage to create sensible gun laws to help prevent the 35,000 gun deaths and 100,000 gun wounds annually.
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I hope that all the victims of violence find peace. Too many innocent lives that have so much potential and so much to offer have been lost. There is no place in our society for sexual, racial, physical, or school violence. We owe it to all people, adults and children alike, to provide them with safety and security.
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I wish for the students and adults who need mental health support and related services to receive the care they deserve. More attention and services need to be allocated to these issues.
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And, I dream that all the teachers and students of Ridgewood High School reach their full potential, be safe and secure in this wonderful learning environment, and that upon graduation the students will take what they have learned and make a positive impact upon the world.
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Last, I want to assure you that over the past several years, Ridgewood High School has taken many steps to make the school safer and more secure. However, the best way to prevent a tragedy is to address it before it occurs. Students, if you see something, say something. It is the responsibility of all of us – teachers, staff, parents, and students – to speak up. If you are concerned about inappropriate social media postings, notify your parents, the police, or a faculty member. And if you know of a friend who is in need of some assistance, we have counselors, grade advisors, administrators, and teachers to help.
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Ridgewood High School is known for its tradition of excellence. But I want us to go beyond that motto. I want Ridgewood High School and all its students to cultivate a culture of kindness, gratitude, and love. We cannot control everything but we can control how we treat each other. Every teacher, administrator, and staff member loves you and is here for you whenever you need us. By working together, we will continue to keep RHS a safe and nurturing place.
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Sincerely,
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Thomas A. Gorman, Ed.D.
Principal
Perhaps Principal Gorman can organize a field trip of the entire RHS and drive through destroyed and still-empty homes, buildings and businesses in Newark from the ’68 riots if he wants to be a do-gooder. Yesterday, he lost his role of leader and is subjugated to role of hashtag activist enabler. Of course, it would take more stones to address the bullying, shaming and drug use that still go on despite decades of “inclusion” talks. You can be pro-gun control and see this for what it’s worth – a feeble attempt to hop on bandwagon because it’s news-of-the-day.
Pro-life students should walk out of class and stand outside praying for 54 minutes. One minute per each million of their fellow children who have been aborted.
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Make #54milliontoo their hashtag.
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They now have EVERY much a right to walk out as the useful idiots yesterday. Regardless of whether or not the school faculties give them their blessing.
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If the students aren’t allowed to, take the school board to court on grounds of violating equal access of public facilities.
Interesting that over 1000 kids attended. Definitely the majority of students choose to walk out rather than sit-in. That speaks volumes of the demographics in our town. I applaud Dr Gorman, the RHS staff, and the BOE for supporting the organizers of this event and the students that attended. I am looking forward to what these kids do next.
5:29 perhaps over 1000 kids attended because of peer pressure from their fellow student and parents and perhaps a few just want some time off.
There is no independent confirmation of the number “1,000”. This propaganda comes straight from from Principal Gorman. He made the statement to certain individuals that were either recording the event for video livestreaming or taking photographs. He immediately, repeated it to make sure nobody missed it. Take a look at the Ridgewood/Glen Rock patch video of the event and you’ll see Gorman blatantly coaching these individuals. (Apparently they were incapable of counting for themselves.) Anyway, doesn’t that 1,000 number sound so round and large? Kind of gives you the progressive warm and fuzzy, doesn’t it?!? /sarc off
The students pretty much filled up the top tier of the front lawn at RHS. This is an instagram link to about twelve still images of the event:
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https://www.instagram.com/p/BgTySVjDk53/
A screengrab of a Mia Lowy social media post on March 13th
(see: https://www.instagram.com/p/BgRUKUjj0lf/
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reads as follows:
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“Principal Gorman decided that the administration wants the walkout to continue to remain organic, so we are not able to do an announcement at 9:45am tomorrow. Because we cannot put an announcement out, we need all of you to start getting your classes going to the front lawn at 9:45.”
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With his virtuouso performance in pulling the strings necessary to make this adult-directed event appear to be “student led” and “organic”, perhaps Mr. Gorman is seeking a new career as a progressive community organizer? Part of Obama’s long term plans for a civilian corps of eager beaver progressive brownshirts? (“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”)
My son attended his scheduled class.
Pet rocks…
Get back into class and start studying your SAT prep books.
In January 1995, Eric Holder, then the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia (and future Attorney General under President Obama), gave a speech outlining his plan to curb gun violence in the city of Washington, D.C.
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In this portion of the speech, recorded by C-SPAN, he said:
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“What we need to do is change the way in which people think about guns, especially young people, and make it something that’s not cool, that it’s not acceptable, it’s not hip to carry a gun anymore, in the way in which we changed our attitudes about cigarettes,” Holder said. He later added, “We have to be repetitive about this. It’s not enough to have a catchy ad on a Monday and then only do it Monday. We need to do this every day of the week, and just really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.”
Anyone ever watch NRA TV? It’s disgusting how the program glamourizes gun ownership. They have clearly hijacked the 2nd Amendment and perverted into a marketing tool.
Do you even know what Operation Fast and Furious was, 6:26pm, and what Obama and Holder intended to achieve with it before their cover was blown?