BANGOR — A Maine high school teacher is complaining that she was forced to remove a small pink Christmas tree festooned with the character Hello Kitty from her classroom.
Catherine Gordon, a math teacher at Bangor High School, wrote on her Facebook page that “everything offends everyone all the time” and that it “just sucks the joy out of everything.”
The news of the pink tree’s removal took off on social media Monday. Even Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin weighed in, saying the school went too far in ordering the tree’s removal.
“Our local school teachers and parents should have the ultimate say in how to run their classrooms so long as it does not pose any danger to students or the community,” Poliquin said in a press release. “I find the School Department’s decision baseless and completely counter to all that our Nation stands for.”
WLBZ-TV reports the school superintendent issued a statement saying culture, traditions and holidays must have an educational component and must be tied to the curriculum.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.