Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter had never spoken at a high school before. But when U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings asked him to take a few hours out of his busy schedule to drive to West Baltimore and speak at a school with a maritime focus, Winter was happy to oblige. After all, he said, the Navy ought to be looking for younger recruits.
Between the time the visit was scheduled and the time Winter appeared at the school yesterday, a lot happened at Maritime Industries Academy. Accused of grade falsification and letting a student teach classes, Principal Marco T. Clark has, over the past three weeks, resigned, changed his mind and tried to rescind the resignation. The assistant principal, Kevin Brooks, was placed on administrative leave, but then reinstated.
At a school board meeting Tuesday night, students, teachers and parents pleaded with board members to give them their leader back. They held up signs saying they'd been "bamboozled," quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ("injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"), and demanded of school system officials, "How dare you, how DARE you, convict someone of something before an investigation?"
With emotions so raw, some questioned whether it would be best to cancel Winter's visit, or at least postpone it. But Gen. Bennie E. Williams, chief of staff to schools chief Andres Alonso, didn't want to let the students down. The visit to the school, at 790 W. North Ave., would go on.
And so yesterday at 1:30 p.m., the Maritime color guard stood at attention. Classes were dismissed, and 300 students in burgundy shirts and black pants filed into the overheated cafeteria, where a giant American flag was draped from the ceiling. Speaking into a microphone, Brooks asked teachers to keep everyone "collected and focused."
The school stood to welcome its honored guest, who wore a navy blazer, gray pants and a red, ivory and blue tie. After the Pledge of Allegiance, Brooks led students in "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and "The Star-Spangled Banner." Then he introduced Cummings, whom he called a "committed educator."
As chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Cummings is trying to help the school live up to its mission. He initiated a guest speaker series so students can hear about different maritime-related careers.
The congressman took the podium and said, "In light of recent events, passions among parents and students are running high. Today's event, however, has nothing to do with that."
