MUSKINGUM COUNTY − Callie Baker has worked hard for everything she’s got.At just 18 years old, she’s earned her electrical technologies certification from Mid-East Career and Technology Centers and graduated from her home school of Tri-Valley High School with honors. She’s blazing new trails as the first woman to work in the field of her full-time job at TWC Enterprises Electrical and she just bought her first home in the New Lexington area.

Throughout her high school career attending Mid-East, she carried a 4.0 GPA each year, earning the Mid-East equivalent of National Honor Society in the National Honor of Scholars. She was top of her electrical technology class, went to state competition for SkillsUSA, participated in Drug Free Clubs of America, was part of Mid-East’s STAR group, and was given a plaque by Tri-Valley for her academic achievements.

But when she crossed the Tri-Valley stage on May 24, she wasn’t allowed to show any of it. She said she was stripped of her cords just moments before the ceremony began, and was told to either take them off or she wouldn’t be allowed to walk.

“It really hurt,” she said. “I feel I’ve worked very hard for all the cords I have earned. I was super excited and made sure they were all put in place. I was taking selfies, and I was excited. It hurt that I had to remove them, especially last minute.”

She was the ninth to receive her diploma that day and no one saw her name in the program for her high honors, no one saw the cords that represented her hard work, and only she knew the choice she had to make just minutes before, she said.

Her question now is: “Why did I even have to make that choice?”

“I just hope that Tri-Valley, as well as other (school districts associated with Mid-East) discuss the cords being worn,” Baker said of the longstanding Tri-Valley High School policy that only cords earned at Tri-Valley are allowed to be worn at the main ceremony, and cords earned from other programs or service-oriented organizations such as Mid-East, Boy Scouts of America, military service, college associate degrees or the like, are not permitted.

“No other kid should have to go through what I went through,” she said.

However, according to Baker and Tri-Valley Superintendent Mark Neal, multiple students had to be told to remove cords that were earned someplace other than Tri-Valley.

“I didn’t realize in the moment that (other students) had also gotten (their cords) pulled as well,” said Baker, citing a student whose military cords were pulled, another’s whose college associate degree cords were pulled, and other Mid-East students whose cords were pulled. “There were a lot of upset people in the moment.”

All of it occurred in the moments just before the ceremony was set to begin.

“The problem was, we’re an hour before commencement starts and all of a sudden, we see cords from all these other places,” said Neal. “It’s too many, and you can’t explain to people what they are. Asking (teachers and those helping with graduation) to make a game-time decision about (being allowed to wear other cords) puts them in a difficult position.”

Neal said that despite multiple accounts of students not realizing they couldn’t wear outside cords, he did confirm with the senior class adviser that students were told at graduation practice and senior class meetings that they could only wear Tri-Valley cords.

Baker disputes that, saying it was never mentioned at the graduation practice, nor did she see it mentioned in any emails or Google classroom communications, though Mid-East students were having technical difficulties accessing the Google platform. Baker concedes she was not present at the senior class meeting, but her mother was, and they claim it was not mentioned there, either.

But even if it had been, she said, the bigger issue beyond communication errors is the policy itself.

“I’m a very strong-minded person, which is why I stood up for myself in the moment,” said Baker. “If I would have (known about the policy in advance), I would have made it known that I didn’t agree with that policy, and I would have tried to change it.”

Neal said the policy has been around for as long as he can remember.

The official statement he provided to The Times Recorder reads: “The practice of not allowing any banners/sashes/decorations other than what was awarded by the school district has been in place for decades. It is not a TV Board of Education Policy, it is simply a longstanding practice of maintaining uniformity and decorum at the ceremony. Those in attendance at commencement witnessed Mid-East Students and those who have enlisted in the military, be recognized multiple times during the ceremony.”

He also said individual organizations or schools, like Mid-East, have their own ceremonies for students to display non-school district cords.

“That is where they have the opportunity to wear (them),” Neal said.

Kim Tatman, the public information coordinator for Mid-East, said they do hold a separate ceremony.

“What we have is a certificate ceremony,” she said. “Because we are an extension of our partner schools, students earn credentials from us, but they graduate from their partner schools.”

Baker did have the opportunity to wear all her cords at the Mid-East certification ceremony just three days earlier on Tuesday, May 21.

Baker’s counter to that is simple: “We have to wear our Tri-Valley gowns to the Mid-East ceremony,” she said. “I don’t know why it can’t go the other way.”

It’s a statement confirmed by Tatman, who said Mid-East students are required to wear their home school gowns as a form of acknowledgement to those schools.

Other schools who partner with Mid-East do allow the cords to be worn, while some don’t, which Neal acknowledged.

“I think different schools do it different ways,” he said. “But it’s never been brought up (as an issue at Tri-Valley) before.

“This is nothing new.”

Tatman confirmed to The Times Recorder that every single one of their 13 partners has its own policy regarding whether a Mid-East student can wear their Mid-East-earned cords during the home school graduation.

“When it comes to this (issue), they are all very different,” said Tatman. “Some of them have traditions that they’ve done for a very long time. Some completely include the (Mid-East) kids (and allow them to wear their Mid-East cords). It’s not a policy we can influence.”

The Times Recorder reached out to John Glenn, Maysville, Philo, West Muskingum, and Zanesville high schools for their cord policies.

Philo High School Principal Troy Dawson responded by email saying: “We permit students to wear cords from Mid-East and the military. We have had students wear cords from the Red Cross before, I believe. I permit educational cords to be worn.”

The other schools have yet to respond.

Neal said he was surprised by Baker’s reaction and noted he even recognized her in his speech about how well she had done at Mid-East.

“I recognized her at the podium, and I stated that in my remarks,” he said.

According to Baker, what he said was that two students at Mid-East had earned high honors.

“He didn’t say our names, we couldn’t wear our medals, no one knew it was me,” said Baker. “I got a 4.0 for four years straight and they wouldn’t even put me in the (program) because I didn’t go to that school every day.”

She said after she was sent to the office for questioning the policy and told she couldn’t wear her cords she was instead offered the National Honor Society sash to wear.

“I declined because that was not something I earned,” said Baker. “And those students should get recognized because they earned their sash, as I should be recognized because I earned my sash, which I had to remove.”

Baker said the issue runs deeper than just the policy itself or the communication surrounding it. She said students who choose other pathways outside the traditional sports, education, and school clubs’ model are often considered outside of the system and are treated accordingly.

“It doesn’t feel like we’re still part of the school when we leave (to go another place like Mid-East or participate in clubs not part of the school system),” Baker said. “They kind of let you fall a little bit.”

Neal said Tri-Valley is supportive of all the students who attend non-traditional programs outside the school and recognize them in many ways.

“We don’t want anyone to feel slighted,” said Neal. “We work hard to recognize them, and we did recognize them at graduation.”

Baker said that’s not enough and believes the cord policy is an antiquated rule that should be changed.

“We’re in a whole new age than what schools ever used to be in,” she said. “I feel in the age of 2024, us wearing cords should not be what gets them all riled up. Besides, it’s our graduation, not theirs.”

She noted that changing traditional graduation policies is something Tri-Valley has done before. The policy of girls wearing yellow gowns and boys wearing black gowns was changed due to a student complaint and now every graduate instead wears black gowns with yellow-tipped sleeves, she said.

“So, you can change that policy, but we can’t examine this policy about not being able to wear cords from (other programs and organizations)?” Baker asked. “That person had an opportunity to change something, and it did change for good. And I think that can happen with the cords and medals.”

A statement provided by Neal reads: “We are always willing to listen to and consider new ideas, especially when it pertains to recognizing the accomplishments of our students. We wish the Class of 2024 nothing but the best as they continue to make their mark on the World.”

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Mid-East grad hopes Tri-Valley updates policy on cords at graduation