9/21/2023 0 Comments Holland township school des moinesPowell sent the players out to right field. The suburban coach came over and chewed out our coach, Ric Powell, saying something about how hard they worked to keep their infield nice and maybe East kids didn’t appreciate well-kept grass, but the opposing coach wanted our guys to warm up in the outfield. Our guys were playing catch in front of the dugout. My senior year, we opened the baseball season at one of the suburban schools. I witnessed some of the direct prejudice against East. When I was a student there 25 years ago, I remember feeling, at best, slighted by the rest of the city and, at worst, mocked and even loathed. View Gallery: Photos: East High reunion, awards night And more than three-quarters of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches.īut I also believe East has long been plagued by an unnecessarily pugnacious and combative attitude that pushes people away and prevents east-siders from being more appreciative to the rest of the metro. I also believe race and economic disparity are major factors in that perception.Įast, like most Des Moines schools, is a “majority minority” school - about 66 percent of the student body identifies as a race other than white. I believe there is a general feeling in the metro that Des Moines schools are on the gates of hell while children play with pearls on streets paved in gold in suburban schools. HONOR: East student wins Boys & Girls Clubs award I don’t mean to dismiss the students' concerns. The old “Lee Township Against the World” motto is a mark of pride for some east-siders and East alumni, but it’s not the most welcoming of mantras. But east-siders often don’t know the rest of the city, at least not at a personal level. “You only hear the bad, never the good,” Rodriguez-Garcia said.īut the one that struck me was Aguirre’s response: “Because you don’t know us.”
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