Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for August 22, 2008 FROM TRIVIAL TO TRAGIC

7th-grader's pink hair gets her suspended

Associated Press

MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. (AP) - A southern Missouri school district has suspended a pink-haired seventh-grader.

Mountain Grove Middle School student Amelia Robbins said she dyed her hair pink to honor her father, who died of cancer when she was 6 years old. She says that to her, pink is the cancer color.

The 12-year-old said that when she finished 6th grade with pink streaks in her hair, school administrators warned her not to continue wearing the color. But with her mother's permission, Amelia dyed all of her hair pink, and her school year ground to a halt just days after it started.

She doesn't think her hair color is a distraction.

The school handbook says administrators have the authority to decide whether a student is causing a distraction. Officials declined to discuss specifics of Amelia's case.

Information from: KYTV-TV, http://www.ky3.com

Student killed in shooting at Tenn. school

Associated Press

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Police in Tennessee have identified the victim of a deadly high school shooting in Knoxville.

Fifteen-year-old Ryan McDonald was a sophomore who lived with his grandmother and had a condition that left him bald and the target of endless teasing as a child.

The shooting happened in the school's cafeteria before classes started this morning. Police say the suspected shooter was taken into custody minutes later on a nearby street.

Authorities haven't identified the suspect. The district superintendent says the suspect knew the victim. Police say the shooting wasn't a random act.

Students who witnessed the incident described the scene. Fifteen-year-old Chad Griffin says there was "blood everywhere" and McDonald started "walking and holding his chest." Griffin says he was hit by McDonald's arm as he fell over.