High School Valedictorian Denied Diploma After Saying ‘Hell’ In Speech
Kaitlin Nootbaar is a 4.0 GPA valedictorian who is heading to college with a full ride scholarship, yet despite her accomplishments her high school in Oklahoma has refused to give up her diploma. The reason? The straight A student said the word “hell” during her valedictorian speech.
Her dad tells KFOR:
“Her quote was, ‘When she first started school she wanted to be a nurse, then a veterinarian, and now that she was getting closer to graduation, people would ask her, ‘What do you want to do?’ and she said, ‘How the hell do I know? I’ve changed my mind so many times.'”
The speech idea was inspired by the Twilight movies which might be more offensive to some people than using the word hell in the speech.
Nootbaar has apparently submitted her valedictorian speech to the school for approval with the word “heck” in place of “hell.” Nootbaar says she didn’t mean to say hell but uttered it “in the moment.” In fact she claims she didn’t realize anything was wrong because the audience laughed.
After her speech Kaitlin tried to pick up her diploma but was denied.
The school’s principle wants a written apology before the diploma is released but as her data points out “she earned that diploma” because she “completed all the state curriculum.”
With a full ride scholarship to university Kaitlin will only have to wait four years before she receives a diploma, let’s just hope her old alma mater doesn’t come calling for donations down the road.
