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- Her school prohibited girls from wearing pants at graduation. So she fought back. - Washington Post
- Mount Vernon man goes on trial in fatal beating of toddler and assault on twin sister - The Journal News | LoHud.com
- Detroit boxing champ's gym gives away prom dresses for teenagers - Detroit Free Press
Her school prohibited girls from wearing pants at graduation. So she fought back. - Washington Post Posted: 06 May 2019 06:41 AM PDT Hannah Kozak was perplexed. The Pennsylvania 18-year-old had two months left of high school before her spring commencement. It was March, and she and her parents had just received the administration guidelines for her big day. Your cap and gown will be wrinkled; remember to steam it. Do NOT iron it; the fabric will melt. Boys: "no bow ties." Girls: "no pants." "No pants," read Kozak, a reserved and quiet musician in the Norwin High orchestra, a writer on the school newspaper and a soon-to-be political science student at Chatham University. She understood why the school in Irwin, Pa., might want formality at the ceremony; after all, the boys' dress code was strict, too (white collared shirt, dark pants, dark shoes, dark-colored tie). And Kozak didn't even have anything personal against the concept of a "light colored dress or skirt," which was what her school was requiring her and her female classmates to wear. It was the principle of it all, the fact that it was 2019 and women had been wearing pants for a century. "I didn't think that was very acceptable," Kozak told The Washington Post. She knew female students before her had found the policy problematic and that individual exceptions had been made for those who felt strongly enough about the issue to formally ask for permission from administrators to put on pants (though they still had to roll the pant legs up, so their ankles would appear bare — like those wearing dresses.) "I felt the female students were being disproportionately burdened by going through this extra process that their male counterparts did not have to go though," she said. "And I did not think that was fair or right." But nobody had felt powerful enough to dismantle the policy altogether. Maybe, she thought, it was time to try. "Sometimes when you want something changed you have to be the one to do it," Kozak said. "Why not be the one to push it?" [Teen boys rated their female classmates based on looks. The girls fought back.] First she went to her senior class adviser and biology teacher, who said she didn't make the rules — she just enforced them. Next, Kozak called on her principal at Norwin High School, who said the rule was about formality and uniformity, that the school didn't want any one student to stand out from the pack. That answer, she said, was not satisfying. So weeks later, on a school night in mid-April, Kozak took her fight to the school board. She hadn't had time to get on the agenda, so she typed up a short speech in Google Docs and planned to present it during public comment at the end of the meeting. For two hours, she waited through budget conversations and introductions of the new superintendent, through other student presentations and mundane crosstalk. At last, it was her turn to talk. Kozak gave them the rundown, outlining the language and her problem with it. She recapped what she told her principal, that she did not think "an extra two inches of fabric hanging below the commencement gown would draw special attention to any one person." She offered a brief history on pants and women wearing them. Kozak invoked the American Civil Liberties Union and its recent legal victory against a public charter school in North Carolina, which had defended its no-pants policy for young girls — and lost. She used the d-word. "I wanted to avoid using this term as long as I could, but there truly is no other word to use: discriminatory," Kozak said. "This rule is discriminatory towards the district's young females and puts a burden on young girls that their male classmates do not have to face. It is not just, it is not right, and these young girls should simply have the choice to wear what they want on their special day." Kozak, a journalist herself, threatened to take the case to the media — and, if necessary, to the courts. As her time came to a close, she called the whole ordeal "sad and disappointing." "If you'd like to argue that forcing women to wear a dress or skirt promotes 'traditional values' or helps young ladies 'meet a certain expectation,' I would like to remind you that it's 2019," Kozak told the board. "Women do not have an expectation to live up to; women do not have a certain standard to meet. We are not living in the 1800s anymore." When she was done, Kozak said the board — on which three women sit — thanked her for her comments. The assistant superintendent of secondary education, also a woman, asked for a copy of her written speech. But Kozak left feeling like there was still no game plan. She followed up with the school board a week later and was told to talk with her principal. That finally happened on Tuesday. This time, the principal was more willing to listen, Kozak said. "I think I had showed at that point that I was very persistent," she later told The Post. But the principal's solution, Kozak said, remained unsatisfactory. He told her she had been granted permission to wear pants; she told him that wasn't the point. The next day, Kozak contacted local TV news station KDKA 2, who interviewed her for a story and reached out to the school for a statement. "The outcome of the principal-student meeting was that it would be acceptable for the student to wear professional business attire, including pants," the statement said. "The student indicated that she would like that opportunity extended to all students." By Thursday evening, the school district announced it had decided — after meetings with various stakeholders and Kozak — to officially do just that. Now, female graduating seniors in the Norwin School District are guided by a "professional attire" dress code that says nothing about dresses, skirts or pants — only "dress clothing." "I do genuinely appreciate their time and consideration for changing that," Kozak said. At school on Friday, in the hallways and in messages, her friends offered thanks and classmates sought wardrobe advice. One girl, Kozak said, had spotted a very cute white jumper and wanted to know if that was okay now, too. For their May 24 commencement ceremony, when they'll get their diplomas and head toward what comes next, some of Kozak's friends have planned to wear pants. Kozak has decided she ought to wear some, too. "I mean, I did go through all of this time, to get all this going," she said. "At this point, why not do what you couldn't do before?" Read more: Katie Bouman helped the world see a black hole. Fans want 'a rightful seat in history' for her. A man put his patriotic tie on eBay. Then he learned the buyer needed it for a citizenship ceremony. |
Posted: 06 May 2019 03:05 AM PDT Mount Vernon's Monique Turner speaks after one of her 2-year-old twin daughters was beaten to death, the other critically wounded. (Video by John Meore and Jonathan Bandler/lohud) Wochit Opening statements are expected Monday at the trial of a Mount Vernon man accused of killing one of his girlfriend's twin 2-year-old daughters and seriously injuring the other. Derran Morris was alone with the girls, Addison and Annalynn Turner, in his South Third Avenue apartment July 5, 2017 when he allegedly beat them so severely that Addison was unresponsive when the girls' mother, Monique Turner, returned home. They took the girls to the hospital, where Addison was pronounced dead and Annalynn was found to have life-threatening injuries. She spent more than two weeks in the hospital. Morris, 24, is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and first- and second-degree assault, and faces up to 50 years to life in prison if convicted. The trial before Westchester County Judge Anne Minihan is expected to last about three weeks. Morris initially told police that the girls were fine when he put them in bed for a nap that afternoon. During a videotaped statement early the following morning, Morris first denied the girls were injured and then suggested Addison might have fallen off a bed onto a surge protector. But he later acknowledged hitting the girls repeatedly, claiming he was frustrated by how they were acting while he tried to clean up the apartment, according to court records. Morris's defense attorney, Christina Hall, declined to discuss details of the case but said her client denies inflicting the blunt force injuries the girls sustained. "Derran continues to maintain his innocence," she said, adding that "there was some form of coercion" by detectives that led to Morris making the statements he did. She would not elaborate. There had been signs of abusive behavior in the weeks before the girls were rushed to the hospital. Turner's father, Eddie, was so concerned when he visited one day in June and saw Addison with two swollen eyes that he took the girls from the apartment. Police were called and he had to bring them back but an investigation was launched by Westchester child protective services. It wasn't until after Morris' arrest that Monique Turner advised authorities that he had been physically abusive to the girls. According to a child fatality report later that year by the state Office of Family and Children Services, Turner claimed that two days before Addison's death, she had a fight with Morris in which he grabbed her by the throat and threatened to kill her. During the altercation, he threw Annalynn onto Turner and hit Addison in the back four times, according to the report. She told authorities that the previous month, Morris hit Addison in the forehead with a belt and threw her in a closet and also hit the girl with a clothes hanger. She claimed Morris told her to lie about what happened and threatened that if she told he would claim that she had abused the girls. The report found that during the CPS investigation of Addison's injuries in June, multiple doctors had concluded that the description of an accident given by Turner and Morris at the time was plausible. Thank you! You're almost signed up for Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. Twitter: @jonbandler VIDEO: Derran Morris appears in court in beating death of 2-year-old TIMELINE: From swollen eyes to death Read or Share this story: https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/mount-vernon/2019/05/06/mount-vernon-trial-derran-morris/3660323002/ |
Detroit boxing champ's gym gives away prom dresses for teenagers - Detroit Free Press Posted: 04 May 2019 03:50 PM PDT The room was set like a boutique, giving teenage girls a one-of-kind experience as they prepare for their special days — upcoming dances and graduations. More than 50 dresses lined both sides of the room, varying in color, style, fabric and size at the first-ever prom dress and clothing giveaway to be hosted in SuperBad Fitness, a boxing gym on Detroit's west side. Some dresses were long, some short. Others with sparkles and some with lace. Teen girls scanned through the dresses, trying on at least two before they found the one. Some of the girls left with two dresses, one for prom and one for graduation. Fourteen-year-old Danielle Holmes couldn't decide on her color theme. Getting ready for her junior prom, a smile appeared on her face as she described her new dress — long and black with flowers. "I feel ready," she said. Danielle's sister, Antonia Heath, of Detroit, said she enjoyed watching her sister pick out a dress for the upcoming dance. Heath described the event as "genuine." "This is good to see her happy. It makes me want to do something like this," Heath said. The giveaway at the gym, owned and operated by professional boxer Tony Harrison — who won the World Boxing Council's super welterweight title in December — was designed to support young girls, eighth- to 12th-grade, in the community, said DeArra Henderson, community outreach liaison. Henderson said the giveaway also included shoes, jewelry, purses and other clothing items such as jackets jeans and shirts. A majority of the dresses were sent from New York, while others came from local donations. "It lifts a financial burden," Henderson said, mentioning that they spent three weeks planning the giveaway. "We want to help other girls. Prom can cost so much." Harrison, a Detroit native known for giving back to the community, was not present for the giveaway but stopped at the gym Saturday morning to check on preparations before leaving for New York. "This is what he does," said Jasmine Bradley, Harrison's girlfriend. Bradley said Harrison wanted to make sure they had dresses appropriate for the teens. "This is his heart. He would give his last." Bradley said the giveaway reminded her of her time getting ready for prom, trying on dresses. Talking to the teens, she learned that every girl has a different style, and they wanted to provide a variety to meet the teens' desired looks. Leftover dresses will be donated; however, an announcement will be made if a second giveaway is planned in the upcoming weeks. Bradley said that in addition to the giveaway, they plan to start a new summer tutoring program in July. The space is more than a gym, she said. It's a family. Established three years ago, the gym also offers boxing sessions for youths. "Everything is family oriented," she said. "We didn't know what to expect (for Saturday) but we always come ready." Donations from the public of more dresses and clothes will continue to be accepted at the gym, located at 8701 Puritan St., Detroit. More: Tony Harrison is the only champion Detroit has. And he's changing lives More: Comerica Bank wants your old prom dresses
Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2019/05/04/tony-harrison-boxing-gym-prom-dress-giveaway/1103370001/ |
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