UPDATED: Cancer patient teen not allowed to participate in graduation
UPDATE: There has been an online petition started regarding this issue. Please sign it at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/letleannawalk/index.html.
I am really upset about a story that I just came across on CNN.com. The story states that a young lady named Leanna Elizalde, who has been battling cancer will not be able to take part in the graduation ceremony with the rest of her class. Because of the cancer treatments, she is behind in a couple of classes and will finish them this summer. So the school says she cannot even walk across the stage with her class. She is not asking for a diploma that she hasn’t earned, she is going to earn it, and is willing to wait for it. She would just like to be able to participate in the ceremony with her class.
I think that her school not allowing her to participate is one of the most cold hearted things that I have heard in a long time. When I graduated from high school, which was not that many years ago, we had students walk across the stage with us who would never earn a diploma, but no one wanted to hurt their self-esteem. They didn’t have cancer, they just didn’t care. This girl needs to be allowed to participate, and the cold hearted people that are refusing, have no place in the educational system.
The video from CNN.com can be found here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/06/04/cancer.student.graduation.kxtv
The world as I see it 
This story saddens me and takes me back to my freshman year of high school where I had a classmate who also suffered from cancer and lost the battle before the school year was out. It was very difficult for a group of freshman to go through, especially since we all attended the same classes together all day long unlike traditional high school classes today. I remember the pain we all went through knowing that our classmate only joy was coming to school and sharing his last days with us. He never made it out of his freshman year and to have another student have a chance to just experience a moment with her classmates and be denied is horrible.
Jersey Student Class of '94 - June 4, 2008 at 9:42 am |
[…] Cancer patient teen not allowed to participate in graduationThe story states that a young lady named Leanna Elizalde, who has been battling cancer will not be able to take part in the graduation ceremony with the rest of her class. Because of the cancer treatments, she is behind in a couple of …The world as I see it – https://bradadair.wordpress.com […]
leanna elizalde | Lasts information - June 4, 2008 at 12:18 pm |
[…] Cancer patient teen not allowed to participate in graduationThe story states that a young lady named Leanna Elizalde, who has been battling cancer will not be able to take part in the graduation ceremony with the rest of her class. Because of the cancer treatments, she is behind in a couple of …The world as I see it – https://bradadair.wordpress.com […]
leanna elizalde | Hottags - June 4, 2008 at 12:19 pm |
I saw the same story too. Can’t believe they won’t bend the rules. Here’s an online petition–maybe it’ll help urge the school to rethink their punitive position.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/letleannawalk/
mark - June 4, 2008 at 3:18 pm |
Thank you for your reply and the link to the petition. I will update the main story with the link so that hopefully more people will sign. This is a travesty that can and should be corrected.
bradadair - June 4, 2008 at 4:09 pm |