GENOA - The father of a Genoa-Kingston
middle schooler speaks out after his son was put in the national spotlight for
wearing a t-shirt a teacher asked him to remove or face suspension. The shirt displayed the Marine logo with two
intersecting rifles going through the logo.
Superintendent of the
The student, eighth
grader Michael McIntyre, says his teacher pulled him aside saying she believed
the shirt violated the school's dress code.
Instead of facing suspension, McIntyre turned the shirt inside out and
then went home to tell his parents.
School had already closed for the day, so Michael's father Daniel
McIntyre decided to blow off his anger by posting his frustrations on Facebook.
"I was upset at the
time and so my actions were just go to on Facebook and post it on there," said
the senior McIntyre.
Before he knew it,
that Facebook post had been picked up by several conservative blogs and
eventually by Fox News. The news
eventually got back to the man who made the t-shirt - shirt distributor Oscar
Mike Apparel of Marengo. The owner of
Oscar Mike is veteran Noah Currier. He
sells the shirts to benefit injured veterans like himself.
"When I read what
happened and I found out that he had gotten in trouble for wearing the shirt,
that's when I guess I switched my train of though from worried to actually
being upset with the situation," said Currier.
Of course McIntyre
is not in trouble anymore after the district set the record straight with an
apology letter. McIntyre and his father
were invited by Currier to pick out more Marine and troop related shirts at the
Oscar Mike store in Marengo. After
meeting Currier, despite the t-shirt controversy, McIntyre says he still wants
to eventually join the Marines himself.
Daniel McIntyre
never did call the school himself, but admits he did get an apology call from
the principal.
