Taylor Vogt, a senior, created many of the armbands that students wore to peacefully protest Avellino's resignation. Photo by George Clarke

When The Lifeguard‘s online editor, George Clarke, asked me to write an article regarding the controversy surrounding Mr. Avellino’s impending resignation, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to voice my support for Mr. Avellino.

First, I want to set the record straight. There has been speculation among Board members and district administrators that eliminating the position of the executive principal would help Liverpool by retaining the principals who had “more contact” with students.

As a senior of Liverpool High School (which deserves merit, being a veteran of the crowded hallways, stairwells, and parking lot), I can confidently state that I have never before had an experience with a principal who was more personable than Mr. Avellino. Just the other day, in fact, he sat in on a meeting during my broadcasting technology class to discuss ideas for the senior video.

He was present at the Dollars For Scholars Phone-a-Thon, he finds time to personally congratulate students such as myself after awards ceremonies and the like, he let me and a fellow group of students interview him for a project and then let us sit and chat with him about school around the table in his office, and I often find him greeting students in the hallways.

Maybe I’ve just been in this school too long, seeing as I’m a senior, but from my perspective, Mr. Avellino demonstrates balance between being an authority figure and being a friend to students. LHS pep rallies would lose their flair without the Pep Rally Dawg’s presence!

No offense to the rest of LHS’s administration, but if some believe that keeping only the assistant principals around will make LHS more personable, I think they are mistaken.

I’ve never even met the assistant principal assigned to my alphabetical category, which I suppose could be a good thing considering that from what I know, assistant principals only have contact with students when there is a disciplinary problem. If the school district is looking for a way to cut the budget and still maintain a welcoming atmosphere at LHS, this is not the way to do it. I’ll need a few more of Mr. Burrer’s AP Economics classes before I’m an expert in budget deficits, but from what I know, I think there are other ways to trim the budget.

If any of you have ever scanned the pages in a history textbook as a welcome distraction, you may have come across revolutionary propaganda depicting a snake severed into several pieces with the caption “Join or Die.” Here at Liverpool, it’s more like “Avellino or Bust.”

Mallory Rowley is the valedictorian of the Class of 2010.