There are currently more than 130 schools named after Confederate soldiers. Lee High School was founded in the 1950s, shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional. Like many schools across the country named after Confederate leaders, San Antonio’s Robert E. It had nothing to do with our era or any of these children,” Sanchez said. She doesn’t think the school needed to change its name.Ĭredit Camille Phillips | Texas Public Radio LEE High School's varsity football team breaks through a sign with their new military dog mascot at their first home game of the season. The dancers still wear their signature cowboy hats, sequins and fringe. LEE’s dance teams used to be called the Rebel Rousers and the Dixie Drillers, but now they’re the Royal Rubies and the Darling Drillers.In order to strip away any references to the Confederacy, it also changed the mascot, the fight song and retired some cheers. “For seniors, at least, that have been the original name, it’s put a little bit of a grey cloud over the senior year,” said Jessica Sanchez, as she watched her daughter practice with her dance team an hour before kickoff. If the crowd at the football game is any indication, the school is still warming up to the idea. The LEE in LEE High School is now an acronym for Legacy of Educational Excellence, not Robert E. Lee High School officially joined their ranks in August. Over the past three years, dozens of schools named after Confederate leaders have been renamed amid a fierce national debate over Confederate symbols.ĭespite vocal pushback from members of the school community, NEISD’s Robert E.
Replied viewer Kevin Fisher, “Thank you Dr.Credit Camille Phillips / Texas Public Radio A plaque with LEE's new name now sits where the statue of Robert E. In April, he uploaded a video of himself playing the keyboard, telling students that he hoped the song he wrote “touches your heart” and “lets you know how I’ve been feeling in this COVID pandemic.”
The educator, who has been principal since 2017, has been known to share good-humored content on social media for his students to watch. “Doing silly stuff is something I really enjoy,” Lee also said. Since July 28, the sketch has been watched over 950,000 times on the video-sharing platform. “I’ve had no luck, and these are the things huh you can’t touch.” Lysol! Can’t be found, I’ve looked all around this town,” he rapped. “COVID! Is stressing me, all the updates from the CDC. The final cut, posted to YouTube early last week, depicts Lee rapping about sanitizers and social distancing, wielding a thermometer gun and doing the Running Man - all the while demonstrating how students should expect to behave in school upon their return. If we can allow people to laugh and forget about their problems, then we’ve accomplished the goal.” Dr. “Everybody needs love, regardless of political party or ethnic background. “We are working tirelessly to make sure school is a place where students can be accepted, loved and clean,” Lee told local media outlets. They also called upon a few students and teacher Jessica Veazey to play various roles in the video, which was filmed on the school’s campus.
Lee took just 15 minutes to rewrite the lyrics, according to Alabama NewsCenter, then called local filmmaker Jaylen Mitchell to record the tune. So the former band director tapped his musical talents to write and record a parody of MC Hammer’s 1990 classic “U Can’t Touch This” - with a decidedly pro-hygiene theme. Quentin Lee, head of Childersburg High School in its namesake town in Alabama, knew his students would need a morale booster before coming back to class during the coronavirus pandemic. “Stop! Sanitize!” You can’t touch this high school principal’s hilarious back-to-school message to students.ĭr. Suspected bomb threats made at two Brooklyn high schools: sources High schoolers ended up on FaceTime with Tom Brady, Bucs in case of mistaken identityīullied suspect Ethan Crumbley, 15, allegedly used dad's pistol in school shooting Oxford superintendent says 'no discipline warranted' for accused shooter before attack