Olympia High School axes weekly military, workforce wear idea after families complained
CORRECTION: This article has been corrected to reflect that the information from Principal Matt Grant regarding expanding the umbrella of programs and representatives who visit the school was in response to The Olympian, not included in an email to parents.
Families of Olympia High School students raised concerns to administrators after receiving an email saying their students and teachers were being encouraged to wear military and workforce gear on a weekly basis. It wasn’t long before the school took that back.
Olympia School District spokesperson Susan Gifford said an email was sent out on Sept. 6 to both students and parents about career “dress up” days for staff and students. Sent from the College and Career Readiness Center, it included “Military Mondays” and “Workforce Wednesdays,” with others like college gear sprinkled in.
Gifford said the high school received emails from families criticizing the “dress up” days, and they quickly shut the whole thing down.
“While the intention of the first email from the College and Career Readiness Center was to get students excited about college and career pathways, administrators shared that there needed to be more discussion and planning at the administration level about how exactly this would occur this year,” she said.
Students and staff won’t be encouraged to wear these outfits anymore, but the school will continue its tradition of school spirit wear on Fridays, Gifford said.
Recruiters and representatives from the military, colleges, the workforce and more will continue to meet with students during lunch hours, presentations and other special events.
Gifford passed along a statement from Olympia High Principal Matt Grant, who said the school intends to include representatives who can speak about nonprofits, gap years, public agencies and more in the future.
More information about pathway presentations, guest speakers and more can be found online on the College & Career Readiness Calendar.
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
.jpg)