I would like to take the opportunity to thank the instructors of a wonderful program we have here in Oak Harbor High School, Commander Black and Master Chief, the instructors of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JR ROTC).

Often extracurriculars go unnoticed when it’s not sports related in school. What t students are taught is invaluable. Practice for the students starts at 6:15 a.m., five days a week. Watching the dedication and self discipline of these young men and women has been very enlightening for me.

I recently attended the last competition the students performed, in which they did outstanding! They took first and second place in the rifle competition and physical fitness; and third and fourth place in in the areas of drill team and armed drill team. But what really struck me were their manners, respect and self discipline, which are the foundation for education.

This, however, is why it disappointed and angered me to find out that after the sixth bomb threat, on Friday at Oak Harbor High, that the JR ROTC class, and only the JR ROTC class was submitted to a search of their bags, their person and required to remove jackets and empty pockets.

The excuses the students were given by the administrators of the school, and the Oak Harbor Police Department was that the JR ROTC practices in the field house where the latest note was found.

I would like to also remind the school administrators that they did not search the students of the gym classes that were in the field house at the same time.

I do appreciate the Oak Harbor police responding to my phone call of why only the JR ROTC were singled out. I have yet to have a response from the school administration.

I am completely shocked and disappointed that a school would single out a group of students because of their affiliation. More importantly, what did it teach the students? Did the administrators find the student they suspected of the bomb threat? Hopefully, the students can take away something positive from this experience and have a deep understanding of how it feels to be wrongly and unfairly singled out because of something you believe in. Hopefully, they will use this and have an understanding of how wrong this incident was, and forgive this lack of respect shown for them.

As for the other excuses of time and the safety of the students that were at stake, which is why they were searched, then why was the school not evacuated this time?

Brandy L. Tucker

Oak Harbor