To the editor:

My name is Devon Palmer and I am writing to you today because it has come to my attention that there was a number of representative flags including the LGBTQ+ flag hung up in the middle school! I find this to be a tremendous step toward the change that we need in our worldwide society and especially in our small town.

As a gay male in this school district, I have felt that the LGBTQ+ community is less represented than it should be. Data shows having this flag up will have an immensely positive effect on LGBTQ+ youth in our school system. I know that if I were to have that flag hung while I was in middle school it would have made me feel much more represented and cared for while being what is viewed as an “abnormality” in today’s world.

As the committee chair of the high school’s GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), Spectrum, I would like to thank all of those who supported this flag being hung. I would have felt more inspired to learn and it would have been easier to build relationships with the staff around me had this been implemented when I was in middle school.

I feel it is important to make sure that each individual, regardless of sexual or gender orientation, should feel as welcomed and at home as possible in our school district. The mission statement “To educate, support and prepare all learners for success” and our school’s vision “to be the premier school district where every student is inspired every day” are both being upheld with this remarkable decision.

Devon Palmer

Marshall