Tag Archives: High school

May 16, 2013 · 7:45 AM

Charges dropped against Florida teen over amateur science experiment

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(Kiera Wilmot, seen in a screengrab from MSNBC’s All In w/ Chris Hayes)

I’m happy to see that charges has been dropped against a student who was demonstrating a science project that went bad.  Florida’s record of arresting minority school age children is abysmal…

MSNBC

The Florida teenager who was arrested two weeks ago for causing a small explosion on the campus of her high school will not be charged with a crime. Kiera Wilmot, 16, was arrested by police in Bartow, Florida, after conducting an unauthorized science experiment which lightly damaged an eight ounce plastic water bottle.

At the time, Wilmot faced possible charges for “possessing or discharging weapons or firearms at a school sponsored event or on school property.” If she had been convicted, she could have faced up to five years in prison.

Wilmot’s arrest became a national story, as members of the press and the scientific community insisted that Wilmot was the victim of a massive overreaction from law enforcement. A crowdfunded legal defense fund netted over $8,000 to cover Wilmot’s potential legal fees, and a Change.org petition to get the charges dropped received nearly 200,000 signatures.

“Even though I don’t have the privilege of knowing Kiera, I believe we all have the responsibility to stand up with one another whenever there is injustice and felt I had to do whatever I could to make sure the unjust felony charges were dropped,” said Maggie Gilman, the creator of the petition, in a statement circulated by Change.org. “I’m very thankful to the 195,000 people who stood with Kiera and signed the petition on Change.org!”

Wilmot has already served a ten-day suspension, and is now attending another high school, according to her attorney.

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May 11, 2012 · 12:15 AM

Report: Romney Camp Asks High School Friend To Issue Supporting Remarks

Mittens is feeling the heat…

TPM LiveWire

The Romney campaign has approached one of Mitt Romney’s closest high school friends and asked him to give “supporting remarks” about Romney after a Washington Post story detailed a bullying incident from Romney’s time at the Cranbrook School, reportsABC News.

The friend, Stu White, told ABC he is still deciding whether he will help the campaign. White was not present when the specific incident in the Post story – in which Romney and others held down a fellow student presumed to be gay and cut his hair – took place. White told ABC that he knew several other classmates had also been contacted by the campaign and asked to counter the article’s portrayal of Romney.

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July 25, 2011 · 5:41 PM

ARKANSAS HIGH SCHOOL APPOINTS CO-VALEDICTORIAN BECAUSE TOP STUDENT WAS AFRICAN AMERICAN

Little Rock is Arkansas' capital and most popu...

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Think Progress

A high school student in Arkansas was blocked from receiving sole valedictorian honors this summer, despite earning the highest G.P.A. in her class and receiving only a single B in her four years at McGehee Secondary School.

Kymberly Wimberly’s offense? She’s black. School administrators worried that Wimberly’s accomplishment would result in a “big mess” at the majority-white school, so Principal Darrell Thompson told the student’s mother “that he decided to name a white student as co-valedictorian,” even though the white student had a lower G.P.A.

The matter is currently pending in federal court.

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