The Mistake I Made With the American Flag
When Technical Solutions Overlook Meaning & Symbolism
I was very proud of a student project that involved a significant number of community members, took a whole lot of planning and learning, and brought joy to our school, its students, and parents. It was a student project celebrating Mexican heritage.
Joel, in his Sophomore or Junior year of high school, created the heritage event. It raised public awareness and brought lots of parents and community members to our school. On the day of the event, Joel asked me, “Can we fly the Mexican flag on our school flagpole for today’s event?” Such a great question! Joel had thought of everything. He actually had a clean, crisp, large Mexican flag in his hands. Of course I wanted to say yes and be one hundred percent supportive of his amazing project.
But as a public high school principal, I knew that there were rules about the flag. It had to go up, everyday. It had to come down every day. Only with district approval would it fly at half mast. If the district instructed its principals to fly the flag at half mast, then you better well do it.
