My name is Abbey Christopher and I am a fourth-grade student at Richard A. Shields Elementary School in the Cape Henlopen School District. Recently at a Cape school board meeting, I read the following to the school board and put it in the record. I would like you to also put it in the paper. I also gave a copy to each of the board members.

“Hello, my name is Abbey Christopher and I am a fourth-grade student at Richard Shields Elementary School.

I have been reading that the Cape Henlopen school board is considering making all students in the district wear uniforms. I hope that you don’t do that, as I like to choose my own clothes to wear to school each day without someone else telling me what to wear. I would like to say that if other students don’t dress OK, let the principal deal with them with our present school dress code. Don’t take my rights away; if someone else is dressing bad…deal with them, not me.

I like choosing my own clothes to wear to school. I like to shop for my clothes with my Mom and to also order them off the internet with my grandfather. I enjoy picking out my tops and skirts for school each day. I like to show my individual personality in the clothes that I wear, and I think that I dress pretty good. As kids, one of the few things we get to do at school to show our independence is through the neat clothes that we wear. And, as a girl, I need to be able to choose my own clothes (and get them as birthday and Christmas gifts) so I can show others how fashionable that I am. I really like getting up in the morning before school and picking out the outfit that I am going to wear that day. Please don’t take that away from me by making me wear a school uniform.

I am very careful on how I dress, and each day both my Mom and my grandfather check out what I have on. They, too, like to see how I dress each day. Us kids like to express our independence through the neat clothes that we wear to school.

So, I hope I have made it clear that I don’t want to be told to wear a uniform to Richard Shields each day. I am a pretty neat little girl and I can pick out my own clothes each morning without help.

Thank you for allowing me to express my opinion.”

Abbey Christopher
Lewes