In the past, organizations were very selective about who received their prestigious letterman jackets, but not so much anymore. Students in clubs anywhere from Academic Decathlon to Home Economics may buy a jacket because MISD no longer purchases them. Previously, students received the jackets as rewards from the district, however now that the district cut funding, not all students can afford to pay the high price for their achievements. The district should provide funding for the jackets, so all students earn what they worked for.
This change has made it easier for anyone to buy a jacket, simply because they can go to stores like Tiger Tails and purchase one instead of the district-approved vendor Maverick Jackets. Qualifications and standards remain for students to meet to earn a letter. However, sports and clubs get to decide what those are and they can make those criteria as hard or as easy as they please. Students who don’t meet the qualifications can simply run to these other stores and buy their letter jacket, whether they earned the letter or not. Students work hard to meet the standards, but like the inflation of a dollar, the more letter jackets there are, the less prestigious they become.
Lettering is a right of passage for many students and it deserves more significance. Without a goal to reach, students don’t try as hard as they could. For students that are serious in sports, lettering is their way of displaying what they’re good at. When there isn’t anything in it for them, it takes away the desire to do well. If they were able to earn their letter jackets, instead of paying full price for them, it would provide them with a goal to work toward.
Also, not all students can afford to buy a letter jacket. Depending on how many patches and what students might want on it, the price can add up to several hundred dollars. There are students who have earned letter jackets and can’t afford to purchase the jacket itself. When the district paid for the jackets, this wasn’t an issue.
From the district’s perspective, buying letter jackets for everyone was too expensive. Between state budget cuts and the number of teams and clubs offered, the district budget couldn’t keep up.
Students are already working for this recognition. They shouldn’t have to work more by doing fundraisers to pay for what those in the past earned cost free. The district should find a way to subsidize the letter jacket program. Finding a way to fund this would recreate the prestige and reward students for their dedication to their club or sport.
