Cherry Hill East Teacher, Iraq Veteran Tells Class His School Needs Armed Security, Gets Suspended
Cherry Hill, New Jersey – Tuesday morning, students at Cherry Hill East High School walked out of classes in support of a beloved history teacher who was placed on adminstrative leave last Thursday. Teacher and Iraq combat veteran Timothy Locke commented that Cherry Hill High School needed armed security, or it could end up like the Parkland school in Florida. So the school suspended him.
Poor school response
The protests began on Monday, with school administrators dispersing the students and threatening them with immediate suspension and blocking them from proms and other school activities. That worked well. Not. They were back again Tuesday morning to show support for Timothy Locke.
The students also complained that the school administrators did not even bother to have a moment of silence for the victims of the Parkland shooting, even though most of the students had videos and pictures of the carnage on their phones. But the one man who did say something was suspended.
Did you see this story from #CherryHill NJ? Video of assembly where students question principal For not even a moment of silence and the only teacher who talked about it was suspended. https://t.co/nqhS16xyYf
— Amy Miller (@amymillerz) February 27, 2018
Locke had gone through statistical comparisons of Cherry Hill East, Columbine, and Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School and stated that the school needs armed security. But one student in the class at the time was upset, and reported him to school officials. The point is that Cherry Hill East has no metal detectors or armed security…former student alumni noted that students don’t feel safe after the Parkland shooting, according to Philly.com.
“It really upsets me that he got suspended. I’m assuming it’s for that. He has been a very genuine guy. I’ve only had him this year. I know other people have had him more, but I really hope he comes back. The school lost something great when they made Mr. Locke leave. If every teacher was like him, the school would be a better place…
“Mr. Locke is one of very few teachers where he doesn’t have to say, ‘Put your phone away. Pay attention.’ People will listen to him because they like to hear him. Everyone loves Mr. Locke … Actually when he was finished, we applauded him for it, but I guess one person didn’t and they went to [the] administration.” Sam Grossman, Junior at Cherry Hill East
Students started a petition to bring him back that has gathered 1,444 signatures (and climbing rapidly) so far out of 1,500 as the goal. The school has 2,200 students. A school board meeting is set for tonight, Tuesday. There is hope for America when students revere an Iraq Combat Veteran enough to risk their high school status to demonstrate in support of him.
“I remember when I was in school he [Tim Locke] basically said he would take a bullet for any of his students. He cares about his students from the bottom of his heart.” Sam Selig, Cherry Hill East graduate class of 2009.
Hundreds of students at Cherry Hill High School East are in the process of a walkout protesting the suspension of a teacher who spoke out about school safety in the aftermath of the deadly Florida high school massacre: https://t.co/e61hC2gIb5 pic.twitter.com/fLbPWPTs9Z
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) February 27, 2018
CHERRY HILL WALKOUT: Students from Cherry Hill High School East staged a walkout on Tuesday morning in response to the suspension of a beloved teacher. https://t.co/IUOewtc0LX pic.twitter.com/gP5WkhVB6M
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) February 27, 2018
WATCH LIVE: Students from Cherry Hill East are staging a walkout in support of history teacher Timothy Locke who was suspended after talking about security concerns in the wake of the massacre in Florida. https://t.co/wvMl4F209m pic.twitter.com/k8H23CvYUV
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) February 27, 2018
Cherry Hill East high school students walk out over teacher’s suspension for Parkland massacre comments https://t.co/OIXvoWg6IT
— Philly.com (@phillydotcom) February 27, 2018
Today, our school came together to protest an injustice done to a beloved history teacher, Timothy Locke. He’s subject to an unpaid leave for speaking out on the lack of school safety at Cherry Hill East in light of the Parkland Shooting. Our principal still refuses to comment. pic.twitter.com/3prm2jv1us
— ~Isabella Cammisa~ (@isabellacammisa) February 27, 2018
Cherry Hill East Students Walk Out In Support Of Suspended Teacher https://t.co/G09IBMzaNe
— CBS Philly (@CBSPhilly) February 27, 2018
[…] that, folks. An Iraq war veteran does his level best to reassure his students that if someone tried to attack the school he would be there to protect them. That’s a good […]
[…] that, folks. An Iraq war veteran does his level best to reassure his students that if someone tried to attack the school he would be there to protect them. That’s a good […]
[…] that, folks. An Iraq war veteran does his level best to reassure his students that if someone tried to attack the school he would be there to protect them. That’s a good […]
[…] that, folks. An Iraq war veteran does his level best to reassure his students that if someone tried to attack the school he would be there to protect them. That’s a good […]
[…] Here is more from Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children: […]