Story Archive

Blue-Ribbon Educrat

Fifth-grader Zachary Golob-Drake won first place in a speech contest at the Patel Partnership School in Tampa, Fla., but his blue ribbon was taken away because an administrator thought his speech wasn’t appropriate for fourth- and fifth-graders. The topic: the use of religion to justify murder, with examples including the Crusades and 9/11. “She thought that probably I would have to rewrite my speech, take the religion out, or not compete” in the regional contest’s next round. Golob-Drake said he told her he needed time to think, and the assistant principal took his ribbon, telling him it was “probably the fairest thing to do,” he said. After his mother fought for hours on the phone, his ribbon was restored. A district spokeswoman said the problem wasn’t that the speech discussed religion, but that it discussed mass murder. (AC/WFLA Tampa) ...Golob-Drake considered proposing a new speech on the meaning of fairness, but he was told that wasn’t appropriate for fifth-graders either.