----- Original Message -----
From: "Vinny Samarco" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "phil scovell" <[log in to unmask]>; "michael graham"
<[log in to unmask]>; "Michael and Rebecca McCord"
<[log in to unmask]>; "Cindy Schneider" <[log in to unmask]>; "john
keyler" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 11:26 PM
Subject: Fw: [CCNN] Altered Pledge of Allegiance stuns students
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Rick Johnson
> To: ccnn
> Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 5:05 PM
> Subject: [CCNN] Altered Pledge of Allegiance stuns students
>
>
> Altered Pledge of Allegiance stuns students
>
>
> By Valerie Richardson
> THE WASHINGTON TIMES
>
>
> DENVER -- The students in Vincent Pulciani's seventh-grade class were
> reciting the Pledge of Allegiance this week when they heard the voice over
> the intercom say something they'd never heard before, at least not during
> the Pledge.
> Instead of "one nation, under God," the voice said, "one nation, under
> your belief system."
> The bewildered students at Everitt Middle School in Wheat Ridge never
> even got to "indivisible," according to Vincent's mother, Christina
> Pulciani-Johnson.
> "He came home and told me about it after school, and he said, 'I just
> stood there, Mom. I didn't even know what to do. We all just stood there
and
> didn't even finish it,'" Mrs. Pulciani-Johnson said, quoting her son.
> Margo Lucero, the eighth-grade guidance counselor at the school,
> substituted the phrase "under your belief system" as she led the
recitation
> of the Pledge on Wednesday.
> After irate phone calls poured in from parents, Principal Kathleen
> Norton, who normally leads the Pledge but was out of the building at the
> time, apologized to students Thursday and sent home letters of apology
> yesterday.
> "The principal called me later. She said she was dumbfounded. She
wasn't
> in the building. She didn't approve it," Mrs. Pulciani-Johnson said.
> Meanwhile, Jefferson County School District spokesman Rick Kaufman was
> engaged in damage control, describing Miss Lucero's decision to rewrite
the
> Pledge as "inappropriate" and stressing that she had acted independently,
> without consulting the district or other school officials.
> Mr. Kaufman said Miss Lucero had been spurred by the date, April 20,
the
> sixth anniversary of the Columbine High School slayings. Both Columbine
and
> Everitt are within the Jefferson County school district.
> "The day was the sixth anniversary of Columbine, and she felt she
should
> be all-inclusive, so she replaced the word 'God,'" he said.
> Mr. Kaufman refused to say whether Miss Lucero had been disciplined by
> the district, citing private personnel matters. He did say she was still
> working at Everitt.
> Parents said Miss Lucero had been slated to leave Everitt at the end
of
> the year, and Shelley Pierce, whose daughter is in seventh grade, said it
> appeared that the counselor was clearing out her office.
> Her daughter, Bailey, told her about the incident after school
> Wednesday. "I was really angry," Mrs. Pierce said.
> "Legally, that's our Pledge of Allegiance, and I don't think anyone
has
> the right to change it," she said. "I'm very happy with the way the
district
> has handled it. Nobody's trying to defend it."
> Miss Lucero could not be reached for comment.
> The episode marks the second time this year the Pledge has made
> headlines in Colorado. In March, voters in Estes Park recalled a
councilman,
> David Habecker, who refused to stand for the Pledge during town meetings.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------
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> 107, any copyrighted work in this message
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> www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
> -------------------------------------------
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