Hello! My name is Rose Turay, and I am a senior at Pasco High School graduating this weekend (6/8). Recently, I submitted my stole to the district for approval to wear at my graduation ceremony (pictured above). I was then told I couldn’t wear it because “it would be representing a political opinion”. Why is being proud of my heritage and race seen as political? I was very confused to why it would be seen that way. I took to my social media to speak up about how upsetting it was to not be able to wear it, and many other classmates of mine had similar experiences with their stoles being rejected as well, both Chiawana and Pasco schools. This is an issue being faced by the entire district. Many students in the district are people of color, specifically of hispanic heritage, and want to bring a piece of that with them while they walk the stage. Many students are parents of immigrants, some not being highschool graduates, making these students the first people in their family to graduate high school. Both of these are huge accomplishments that deserve to honored with pride, which the school district is very strict on. Majority of stoles that are not plain have been rejected, which is very frustrating considering that many of those stoles have nothing hateful and negative to do with any race, country, religion, ethnicity, etc. Whether you are Mexican, Black/African, Asian or White, you should be able to represent your heritage in a meaningful way during your graduation. It is huge milestone and a once in a lifetime achievement. On top of that, we have also been banned from decorating our caps for the ceremony, which were paid for by the students, not the schools. Many of us have spent the past 4 years working insanely hard to get to this part of our lives right now, and being able to do something special to commemorate it would make it even better. I know my graduating class especially dealt with such difficult life situations to the point where they thought they weren’t going to make it past freshmen year. Situations like deportations, depression, violent home life situations, drug addictions, bullying, battling homelessness, and losing parents, which would’ve forced them to step up and take care of the rest of their loved ones. Many have persevered and deserve the chance to have a fun moment at the end of their high school career, as a reward for all the things they survived through. We are not asking for too much, just the ability to show our pride and strength through our stoles and caps.