Post by UMaineTeach on Feb 16, 2019 11:42:07 GMT -5
I never really gave this much thought, but it is an area that is easy to change to make people feel comfortable. I don’t know the headmaster, but his wife is a fantastic person.
“A plan to discontinue the use of white graduation gowns for female seniors at Foxcroft Academy has sparked a debate among students, alumni and others in the community between those who favor the traditional boys-in-burgundy, girls-in-white garb reflecting school colors and those who think the change eliminates gender bias.”
That’s a nice thing to see. I side eye the kid who said the minority should never speak for the majority, but it’s good that the administration is having open and productive discussions with the students.
Post by DotAndBuzz on Feb 16, 2019 12:00:08 GMT -5
I never really understood the reason for separate colored robes anyways. It sounds like the change was initiated thoughtfully, so I hope the school does, in fact, move forward with the single color choice. Not all "traditions" need to be maintained.
I didn’t actually walk for graduation so I can’t remember what my school did. I want to say we alternated between colors (year A girls would wear blue, boys gold, then switch next year) but that could be wrong. I know they were incredibly strict that girls had to wear white shoes and possibly even white clothes under their robes.
Huh. Everyone wore the same color at both my high school and college. I assume it was more cost efficient that way. We also had to wear closed toe dress shoes but that’s all I remember. Glad to hear the school is moving away from gender-assigned colors. If they want both school colors represented, assign one to the first half of the alphabet and the other to the second half. The colorblocking would be a cool visual from the stands.
My high school alternated, girls in white and boys in green, and arranged us so we were by height and boy/girl/boy/girl, presumably for aesthetics. It looked weird at the end since we had more boys than girls, so it went green, white, green white, green green green.
There's no valid reason to have a color separation, other than for aesthetics, so I think it's an old tradition that can go.
Don’t most colleges just do black for everyone? That’s what i feel like I’ve always seen in pics and in tv.
High school - we did exactly what was in the article. Boys in maroon, girls in white. I never understood the need to do that, tbh. I’m happy to see that this is changing.
My high school alternated, girls in white and boys in green, and arranged us so we were by height and boy/girl/boy/girl, presumably for aesthetics. It looked weird at the end since we had more boys than girls, so it went green, white, green white, green green green.
There's no valid reason to have a color separation, other than for aesthetics, so I think it's an old tradition that can go.
If it’s for aesthetics, then just alternate regardless of gender. It’s not for aesthetics.
My high school alternated, girls in white and boys in green, and arranged us so we were by height and boy/girl/boy/girl, presumably for aesthetics. It looked weird at the end since we had more boys than girls, so it went green, white, green white, green green green.
There's no valid reason to have a color separation, other than for aesthetics, so I think it's an old tradition that can go.
If it’s for aesthetics, then just alternate regardless of gender. It’s not for aesthetics.
Oh, I know it wasn't just for aesthetics, but at least where my school was concerned, it was part of it.
In reading the article, if their desire for tradition is that they want 2 colors, that’s fine. Just let everyone pick which color robe they want. But if their desire for tradition is defining girls vs boys.... well, people, catch up with the times, then. Not everyone identifies that way or even if they do, they may not want to conform to one color over the other. OR people may simply not like the way a particular color looks on them.
Ithink giving everyone a choice in what color they wear is a great way. And maybe don’t line people up based on gender or even on the color they are wearing. Just put EVERYONE in alphabetical order. WHich I think is what they also do at the college level anyhow. This isnt that complicated!
I got into a fight with a guidance counselor my senior year because my off white dress was showing several inches below my white graduation gown. She threatened not to let me walk. And this was public school. And I was top of my class and in every freaking honor society.
I told her she could either give me a green robe or deal with my grandmother, who had paid for my graduation dress.
Fortunately, there were 8 guidance counselors (my high school was enormous) and the other 7 knew and liked me because I'd been a guidance aide and they talked her down.
In other words, #anecdotes, I wholeheartedly approve of this school's decision.
Post by sillygoosegirl on Feb 16, 2019 13:52:27 GMT -5
Why the assumption that the color robes traditionally worn by the boys is superior to that traditionally worn by the girls though? Perhaps they should move to a system where each student orders a robe in a school color of their choice? Around here, most high schools seem to have 3 school colors, so a more neutral choice might be to choose the 3rd color for everyone's robes.
Or better yet, maybe get rid of the damn robes entirely.
I didn’t actually walk for graduation so I can’t remember what my school did. I want to say we alternated between colors (year A girls would wear blue, boys gold, then switch next year) but that could be wrong. I know they were incredibly strict that girls had to wear white shoes and possibly even white clothes under their robes.
Wow. I wore a bikini under my robe because I knew it was going to be damn hot in that gym. Nobody gave a damn what we wore under our (all the same color) robes.
I've been to dozens of commencement ceremonies at all kinds of institutions and never seen anything but single color of robes (except occasionally for grad vs undergrad students)
Girls wore white, guys wore green at my HS. And we were required to wear all white underneath them which was a huge pain in the ass. Guys could wear whatever as long as it wasn’t jeans, which is bogus.
Post by pinkdutchtulips on Feb 16, 2019 15:37:23 GMT -5
My HS did girls in red, boys in blue but they didn’t care what we wore under them. My mom was relieved that all 3 of us girls graduated from the same HS- 1 robe covered all 3 of us and she just bought 3 caps.
I didn’t actually walk for graduation so I can’t remember what my school did. I want to say we alternated between colors (year A girls would wear blue, boys gold, then switch next year) but that could be wrong. I know they were incredibly strict that girls had to wear white shoes and possibly even white clothes under their robes.
Wow. I wore a bikini under my robe because I knew it was going to be damn hot in that gym. Nobody gave a damn what we wore under our (all the same color) robes.
I hated my school, which is why I graduated a semester early and didn’t return for graduation. The administration was very (overly) concerned with appearance and how many stars they were, and less concerned with helping kids excel.
We had one teacher who taught part time and was a part time dress code enforcer. It was just a waste. Let’s let kids actually go to class and learn rather than send them to the office everyday.
My school did this 8 years ago. It was a big deal (ish, a few kids and parents cared, most did not) for one year, then it just became blue robes were what we wear at graduation. I support this - there is no need to gender graduation.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Post by hopecounts on Feb 16, 2019 20:03:10 GMT -5
If they want the two colors just alternate going down the student list. You can’t tell me they don’t have an alphabetical list of students. Student 1 is white student 2 green and so on. Problem solved
My HS did the black robes for everyone and didn’t care what you wore under the robe as long as it met the basic school dress code. Most people dressed nicely but that was personal choice.
I guess I never gave this tons of thought and only really saw it in the movies. I graduated HS more than 20years ago and we all wore the same color, which was the same for my with college and grad school.
Post by gibbinator on Feb 16, 2019 21:09:28 GMT -5
I didn't realize this was a thing. All the local (public) schools I know anything about or attended have everyone in one color (red for my high school) . In university, we all had black robes with different colored sashes based on what program we were in.