12/04/2015
As senior class sponsor of OPHS, I would like to clarify what is going on with the senior class song and squash any rumors that have been spreading due to misinformation. Seniors were given an opportunity to make nominations. It is their class song so I think it is very important that they are given a voice in the process. They were told that the songs needed to be school appropriate, as the winner would be listed on their graduation announcements and played at the ceremony.
Some of the songs that were nominated were inappropriate. Welcome to the world of working with teenagers. They make poor decisions, but I can't control that. The nomination process was only the first step. Once all of the nominations were in, myself and the senior class officers looked over the choices and picked a top five for seniors to vote on. We obviously filtered out inappropriate choices. No one but myself has even seen the final ballot so I am not sure why people have been talking about not liking their choices. Our copier was down so I was not able to get them ready for voting during lunch today.
As I was busy teaching all day AND organizing the senior panoramic photo, a storm of protest was going on on Facebook. I really wish that the parties involved had spoken to me before putting information out there to the public. It made me look bad and it made our school look bad as well. Had anyone gone to the source for information before posting online, this whole thing would've been clarified and squashed very quickly. This is a lesson that I try to instill in my students every day. Everyone was whipped up into a frenzy over a problem that didn't even exist. How embarrassing would this have been had it been picked up by a media outlet?
Please rest assured that I have more common sense than to allow inappropriate songs to be put before the students for voting. All students had a chance to nominate songs and all appropriate songs were considered. There is no need for petitions or additional song suggestions from parents.
I hope this clarifies any concerns. Please feel free to share this with anyone who may have been misinformed.