Here's an update of last weeks post about the Gardens Mall- I had written an email to the General manager of the mall and I get a call from a woman who is in charge of special events in response to the email. I tell her my story and she says to me that the mall has no such security measures in place and asks me for the exact date and time of the incident so she can investigate. She will get back with me shortly. When I get home, I have an email from WPTV which is the NBC affiliate here in West Palm Beach.
Tim Malloy wants to interview me and makes a date to meet that night, but it gets postponed until the next day (Friday). that morning we meet, he interviews and films, asks me if there is any footage of my kids talking about the incident and how they felt, so we shot that and took it to him by his deadline. Before I leave the station, he tells me it will be on at 6pm.I go home and watch the news later on that evening. The situation was tastefully handled on the stations end, with the simple request of an apology to my students to put it to rest. The Gardens Mall on the other hand, had some canned comment about how security measures being in place for the protection and well being of the public, blah, blah, blah.... No responsibility, no acknowledgement, no apology and of course no return phone call....
We have made many partnerships with influential, affluent groups and communities who support our efforts to increase the chances of success in the future with the students at my school. The ones that have heard about the incident are shocked and disappointed that the Gardens Mall would support such discriminatory practices. They are hot about it and are actively spreading the word among community members, friends, and family. I'm sure the Palm Beach post may get wind of it as well, as they have covered many a success story at our school.
Oh, I'm sure that you are not worried...you have enough "ladies who lunch" and stay at home moms with a wallet full of credit cards, bent on immediate gratification to keep you afloat. A handful of teenagers who are trying to better themselves educationally and at the same time patronize your food court are inconsequential in your "big picture" (read: BOTTOM LINE).
All my students wanted was a validation of their feelings and an apology.......
""The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members." Who said this? And is this an accurate quote?" You would be surprised at what I found...
"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey
"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Ghandi
"Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest."
~Cardinal Roger Mahony, In a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life
The greatness of America is in how it treats its weakest members: the elderly, the infirm, the handicapped, the underprivileged, the unborn. ~Bill Federer
The ball's in your court, Gardens Mall....Do the right thing....for MY students surely did....
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