First Amendment Essay Contest: Integrity

By Jeffery Dick
Muncie Central High School

She had that aura about her that no person in the school could match. Her smile brightened everyone’s day. Her name was Amber, and she changed my life in a way I never thought possible.

The entire school was in mourning. Amber’s death was a great surprise to us all. That sweet girl who passed us by every day during passing period would never walk the same halls again; this was hard to fathom.

Along with the backup of many friends and teachers, I was bound and determined to find a way for the school to always remember her; her death was driving us insane. Neither a plaque nor a memorial booth would work, those seemed too commonplace. But one day, about two days prior to the funeral, an idea was brought to me by one of Amber’s good friends: let’s get a hallway named after her.

What a great idea. I fell in love with it the moment I heard it. Being class president and close to Amber, I felt obligated to do all I could. So I did something that I have seen many times on television: I started a petition.

I sat up until 2 a.m. the following night making up the petition, figuring out who could help carry the petition, while drinking many cups of hot, decaffeinated coffee.

It was not a surprise to me that the administration at the school did not like the idea of a petition on school grounds. I can remember the Student Council sponsor telling me that I should definitely stop the petition or else I could get suspended my following year entering high school.

Later that day, I received a note from the principal repeating what my sponsor said earlier. I was only an eighth-grader, and I had too much pride in my schooling to go on.

My petition attempt ended in a blink of an eye. I did not want to get anybody in trouble, including myself. Soon, eighth-grade graduation rolled around and I was out of middle school forever.

I often think back on what happened regarding the petition. Having taken a journalism class since Amber’s death, I have realized that what I attempted was not wrong. Under the First Amendment, I have the right “to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

My life changed forever because I know now that what I was doing with the petition was my right as an American citizen. If I had it my way, that precious smile would always be remembered-even if only by a small plaque glued to a middle school wall. However, it saddens me that the administrators overlooked something so delicate that affected so many students, and it saddens me that so many other students may never realize their rights.

Students must be educated on the rights granted to all citizens by the First Amendment.

This I believe.

Jeff Dick is a sophomore at Muncie Central High School, where he ranks first in his class. He is a first year journalism student and news reporter for the student newspaper, Munsonian. At Central, Jeff is a member of Key, Spanish and Latin clubs and trains horses in his spare time. Jeff would like to attend the Naval Academy and study aerospace engineering.