June 17, 200917 yr Link with video of the incident: http://www.wlky.com/education/19766393/ ... 0106162009 STANDISH, Maine -- Justin Denney's family watched as he ascended the Cumberland County Civic Center stage during graduation Friday night to accept his diploma, but the superintendent told him to return to his seat. The Bonny Eagle High School senior's mother said she can't believe her son's taking a bow and blowing a kiss on stage led was grounds for the superintendent to withhold his diploma. Mary Denney wants an apology, and her son wants his diploma, reported WMTW-TV in Portland, Maine. "I'm like, 'Did she not hand him his diploma?' I'm like, 'What's going on?'" Mary Denney said. She said she and Justin both signed a code of conduct regarding the graduation when she picked up graduation tickets on Friday, but she doesn't think he violated it. "There was no misbehavior. Showboating is not misbehavior," Mary Denney said. "A bow, a kiss to your mom is not misbehavior. There was no need of my son not getting his diploma." WMTW tried to contact the district's superintendent and the school's principal, but neither returned the calls by Monday evening. Before the school began handing out diplomas, some students pulled out beach balls. One student was forced to sit away from his classmates with staff while police escorted another student behind the stage. "No arrests were made," Cumberland County Sheriff's Department Deputy Chief Kevin Joyce said. "The individual that was escorted off the stage was asked to leave the civic center. He was to the point where the deputy was starting to get to the point where he wanted to arrest the individual, but gave him several opportunities to settle down. Eventually, he took off his cap and gown and threw it at the deputy and walked out the civic center." The deputy returned to the crowd and took another beach ball away from the students, but Mary Denney said School Area District 6 Superintendent Suzanne Lukas was still upset. "When she got up there and started speaking, they threw out a couple more balls and she turned around and said, 'More people may not be graduating today if this continues,'" Mary Denney said. While in his seat or waiting in line for his diploma, Justin Denney never touched a beach ball, his mother said. After his name was called, he took a bow, blew a kiss to his family and pointed to friends, but he didn't get his diploma, leaving a whole family in disbelief. "I said, 'What did she ask you?' And, he goes, 'She said, 'There's no fooling around up here,' and he just kind of looked at her because he wasn't fooling around," Mary Denney said. "He didn't consider that fooling around or misbehaving in any sense of the word, and she goes, 'Why do you feel you deserve your diploma?' He goes, 'Because I worked hard and I earned it,' and she goes, 'No, go take your seat.'" The crowd booed, but Justin Denney still doesn't have his diploma. Now, his mother wants her son to get what he's worked so hard for. "It was appalling, and I want justice for my son. I want her to apologize to my son and I want her to hand him his diploma while he is in his cap and gown," Mary Denney said. Both of Justin Denney's grandparents are ill and one of their wishes was to see their grandson graduate from high school, Mary Denney said. Mary Denney said she is planning a graduation party for her son in two weeks, which, by then, she said she hopes she will have a photograph of her son with his diploma. I would be so angry at the superintendent, how would any of you feel if you were rejected your diploma for blowing a kiss to your family?
June 17, 200917 yr I'd have stood up there until I was forced down or got my diploma. That's rediculous. Seems to be getting more and more cases of claims like these of schools lately. I present to you men, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I. What a guy.
June 17, 200917 yr Yeah that's pretty stupid. They should understand the kids get a little excited about graduating from high school.
June 17, 200917 yr Nothing much to say, really. Weird and unusual is all. I'd rip the superintendent's head off her shoulders if she didn't give me my diploma at my graduation. Then, maybe, she'd have grounds for taking it away from me. Though, I expect due to the triviality of the incident, the student should get it back. No problems.
June 17, 200917 yr Only in Maine... "Let your anger be as a monkey in a piñata... hiding amongst the candy... hoping the kids don't break through with the stick." - Master Tang
June 17, 200917 yr Author What type of world are we living in? :wall: A too uptight/politically correct one.
June 17, 200917 yr Hope she realized she ruined one of the most important once-in-a-lifetime experiences for several students.
June 17, 200917 yr Christ, it's graduation. They're hauling people out in cop cars for beach balls and denying diplomas for bowing and blowing a kiss. That's seriously messed up. Isn't graduation supposed to be fun? "He could climb to it, if he climbed alone, and once there he could suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder."
June 17, 200917 yr I have to wonder what the kid thinks. The whole article is about the mother. It seems like he's acting pretty calmly - I personally would've thrown my cap on the ground/at the superintendent and spat on it - though he's probably burning up inside. Ridiculous. Of course. :| Cenin pân nîd, istan pân nîd, dan nin ú-cenich, nin ú-istach.Ithil luin eria vi menel caran...Tîn dan delu.
June 17, 200917 yr I was denied my diploma because I haven't paid lab fees for my health class, even though I didn't have a choice to be in there or not. School is a miniature government. Control freaks with the most ridiculous codes of conduct you can think of.
June 17, 200917 yr I might just kill the guy if that were me :evil: "Don't push me; what's the hurry?" - Imogen Heap
June 17, 200917 yr There's got to be more to this. Maybe he did something to the superintendent that pissed her off and is using this as an excuse to not give him his diploma. Either way it's pretty stupid and she should just give him the damn thing.
June 17, 200917 yr retarted Is this censor evasion or just ironic? Get back here so I can rub your butt.
June 17, 200917 yr retarted Is this censor evasion or just ironic? You're ironic. Your FACE is ironic. Oh yeah, I went there. I don't have a 2nd grade education for nothing :thumbup: Get back here so I can rub your butt.
June 17, 200917 yr retarted Is this censor evasion or just ironic? You're ironic. I don't know why that word should be censored. It's not like anybody who is like that is gonna find TIF.
June 17, 200917 yr retarted Is this censor evasion or just ironic? You're ironic. I don't know why that word should be censored. It's not like anybody who is like that is gonna find TIF. Hint: You spelled it wrong.
June 17, 200917 yr Also let this be a reminder. Do stupid things after receiving the diploma. ;) I do believe they can still take it away, so save it for a day when you're drunk a few weeks later so they can't take it. Steam | PM me for BBM PIN Nine naked men is a technological achievement. Quote of 2013. PCGamingWiki - Let's fix PC gaming!
June 17, 200917 yr Also let this be a reminder. Do stupid things after receiving the diploma. ;) I do believe they can still take it away, so save it for a day when you're drunk a few weeks later so they can't take it. If they try to take it then run away. What are they going to do? You've graduated! :lol:
June 17, 200917 yr im confident that the parents had a talk with this intendant. a diploma is a sense of accomplishment that you've put four years of your hard work into, and if it can be taken away by a simple kiss, then that school is [bleep]ed up to the core.
June 17, 200917 yr If you did the work, you should get the diploma. It's not about how well behaved you are at the graduation ceremony, so denying the diploma based on that is ridiculous. I don't care if the kid pissed on the superintendent's car; technically he still earned his diploma and is entitled to it.
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