Tinker v Des Moines was a landmark Supreme Court case in which Mary Beth Tinker, her brother, and a friend – middle school students at the time – were suspended for protesting the Vietnam War.  The ACLU helped them sue, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, who decided in the kids’ favor.  The case set the precedent that students’ free speech rights do not end at the schoolhouse gates.

 

Mary Beth Tinker herself spent more than an hour discussing the case with my Honors class and Helen Kunde’s LR class, answering their questions, and inspiring them to use their voice.  See pictures attached.  These inquisitive students embraced this opportunity to dialogue with an important historical figure, and I hope it remains one of those seminal Miami Country Day School experiences that will stay with them forever.

 

Thank you, Mary Beth Tinker for taking the time to meet with our students!