William Marvel: Go Eagels!!

The Kennett High hockey team played in the Frozen Four semifinals at Plymouth State on Wednesday night, March 11. A photo from that event has been circulating widely ever since, offering amusing evidence of the consequences of subordinating academics to sports. A squad of boys bared their chests to be painted with letters spelling the name of the generations-old Kennett mascot, but when they lined up and filed into the stands, those topless cheerleaders proclaimed the school spirit of the "Eagels."

Of course, hockey is immensely important to education. It must be, for Kennett's entire freshman class was taken to Portland by bus to watch a Mariners game, just the day before this embarrassing stunt. An entourage of 154 students, 11 teachers, and a trio of bus drivers left town at 8 a.m. and returned just as school was closing for the day. The acknowledged cost came to roughly $3,500, of which $1,968.72 was paid out of the school budget.