In light of recent events at my old high school where a teacher who came out as transgender was fired after more than 30 years of teaching, I was compelled to resume my stagnant writing.
Mark Krolikowski, known as Mr. K, was one of my favorite and best teachers at St. Francis Preparatory School. He taught several religion classes, including Human Sexuality & Love and Social Justice. He often focused on the value of tolerance, respect, and empathy. He is dynamic and funny, relatable and kind; when I was there, he also had wild red hair, and donned flamboyant alligator-skin shoes and several hoop earrings in both ears. He was a favorite of many students and teachers alike.
From my understanding, his hair had grown too long, the manicures were too frequent, and most of all, after 32 years of teaching, a student complained. As a result, Mr. K not only came out to his Catholic school administration as transgender but was fired by the hypocritical institution. The school has notoriously been more concerned with money and unevenly enforcing a dress code than actually upholding Catholic/Christian values or the best interest of its students. Firing Mr. K, a highly valued and respected teacher, highlights it all, reigniting anger and bitterness in me than I thought had dissipated over the years.
The administration sent several messages by firing Mr. K. Not only do they not value an excellent teaching record of 30+ years, they boldly demonstrated that they will not tolerate people who appear different and do not comply with their ideal mold. One of the saddest (and perhaps less obvious) consequences of such actions is its deliberate and inconsiderate removal of an ally, an accepting and supportive voice in a sea of intolerance. You see, SFP, no matter how hard you try to suppress and eliminate these 'deviants,' there are gay/queer/transgender/different people roaming your halls every day. They are teachers, staff, and students. Like I was. Many of whom already feel isolated and unwanted. And you, beacons of Catholic teachings, the supposed embodiment of the Franciscan brotherhood, have only reinforced these sentiments here.
For many of us, high school is merely something we survive. Something we just try to get through with some self-esteem intact. Many teenagers struggle with feelings of not fitting in-- for various reasons-- and have trouble with the conformity required in many high schools. Sometimes, this conformity is societally placed, causing teens to believe they need to dress or think a certain way in order to be accepted by their peers. In a Catholic school, in SFP, that conformity is multifacted and hypocritical, resulting from societal pressures as well as the outdated Catholic dogma. Enforcing a dress code in a private school is nothing new; enforcing it with more gusto than a supposed zero-tolerance drug policy is ridiculous. The religious influences serve more to suppress dissenting voices and opinions than it does to foster love and kindness.
If we're lucky, in high school (as in the rest of life) we may find a few supportive mentors along the way. They come in the form of friends and teachers; some of us might even owe our lives to these people. Especially in an inherently suffocating environment, these mentors are so valuable. Congratulations, Prep, for dismissing a non-judgmental, supportive shoulder to lean on. St. Francis is attributed with the quote, "Preach the gospel always. If necessary, use words." In reflecting the sentiments of your patron saint and the goodness of Christianity, you failed.
OH. SNAP.
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