You may have recently seen the large, impressive posters of our football captains. They are massive, glossy rectangles depicting our senior captains frowning in an intimidating fashion (though the sad truth is that they’re just upset about their season). Be that as it may, the posters were there for exactly one day. Now, I don’t know about you, but I really would have liked to continue having the enigmatic presence of Shane The Train Normandeau watching over me and keeping me safe from harm as I eat lunch or walk to classes.

However, the fact that we acknowledge CERTAIN students, instead of ALL of our students, has severely offended some individuals, who — wouldn’t you know it– decided to solve the problem by talking about it on social media. The popular Facebook group KBK Moms (That’s ‘Kennebunk Moms,’ if you don’t get cutting-edge abbreviations) has recently been abuzz with discussion on the matter at hand, and weren’t fond of the idea.

On the group, there were actually some fairly reasonable concerns about the posters. “Where are the pictures of the math team? Where are the pictures of the Portland Youth Wind Ensemble? Where are the pictures of the jazz band? Where are the pictures of the Robotics Team? … and so much for the idea that the school treats everyone equally.” Which, on a certain level, is fair. But might I add, as an actual student, and a member of 3 of those clubs, I couldn’t care less about this issue, but if people are offended we should at least address it.

I conducted an informal interview with a few students (who shall remain anonymous, because I totally forget who I asked) and asked, “Do you care at all about the football posters?” The consistent response was “Nah.” I’m positive at this point that this debacle offends less than 5 of our total students, out of 682, or 0.7%. A larger percentage of our band is offended by how our football team actually plays.

So let me answer your questions, KBK Moms. Where are the pictures of the Portland Youth Wind Ensemble? Have you looked in the pamphlets distributed by USM about the Youth Ensembles, or maybe checked the posters promoting the concerts we get to play in Merrill Auditorium? Check again.

Where are the pictures of the math team? How about in the newspaper? EVERY meet in middle school, and most in high school, we have had our pictures taken and names mentioned in the York County Coast Star, or occasionally other papers. The Robotics team has been featured in articles as well, which are displayed in our history wing.

Where are the pictures of the jazz band? Uh, hanging up in the school. They’ve been there awhile. And we aren’t exactly upset just because every one of us isn’t featured in a 6’*8’ glossy feature frame.

When Kennebunk High School committed to treating students equally, they meant it. They treat us equally and equitably, but this is in terms of judgment, direction, and support. The KBK moms are calling for complete equality of recognition (in international politics, this is known as ‘Communism’) for every student.

This particular article is to address the concerns about having the posters up, but remember, it’s no one’s actual fault they were taken down. They were NOT taken down because of the concerns, but because Mrs. Cressey wasn’t informed about them before they were up, and didn’t want that decision made so suddenly, which, given the reaction, was smart on her part. NO ONE IS TO BLAME HERE. Know that, and soon I’m sure we will be able to rest safely under the vigilant eyes of our senior captains.