Deer Creek School District Responds After Video Shows Students Licking Toes For Fundraiser

Oklahoma schools have been in the news quite a bit recently and for all the wrong reasons. A few weeks ago, a drag queen principal at an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL was forced to resign, as the media tried to cover up his past which included child pornography charges. Then activists on the left tried to blame Oklahoma State School Superintendant Ryan Walters and Libs of TikTok's Chaya Raichik for the death of 'Nex' Benedict, even though the autopsy showed that she did not die from trauma due to a school fight. In fact, it turns out, it was Benedict herself who may have been the 'bully' in her school. Thankfully, the latest news from an Oklahoma school isn't anywhere near as grim as the stories above, but it is still all kinds of wrong.Show more

On Thursday, the Deer Creek School District in Edmond, OK, held a fundraiser for Not Your Average Joe Coffee, a business that employs people with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities. This was part of a week's worth of effort to support the business. A noble cause to be sure … until we all saw what the school had planned for students in order to raise that money. Video from the fundraiser was first reported to Oklahoma City's Fox affiliate and was tweeted out by Fox 25 reporter Wendy Suares: “Video sent to Fox 25 shows students at Deer Creek High kissing and sucking on feet yesterday. @DCAntlers confirms the video, saying the students volunteered in challenges to help raise money for their annual philanthropy week.”

Suares, of course, has her own issues with reporting facts honestly (she also tried to blame Walters and Raichik for Benedict's death), but we'll get into that in a minute. First, Deer Creek issued a statement in response to the video from Fox 25: “On Thursday, February 29, 2024, Deer Creek High School hosted an assembly called the Clash of Classes for students who paid to attend. During this assembly, ninth through twelfth grade students volunteered to participate in various student-organized class competitions, in the spirit of raising money for NYAJ. All participants in the assembly were students who signed up for the game(s) they played ahead of time. No Deer Creek faculty or staff participated in any of the games during this Clash of Classes assembly.” -- The last sentence is important because the video had been circulated by Libs of TikTok, claiming that the students were licking the feet of adults.

Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok: “UNBELIEVABLE. This happened at @DCAntlers. Students sucked on the toes of adults during a school fundraising event. Who approved this???” -- Suares was indignant and outraged about this tweet from Libs of TikTok and chided her and others in a subtweet: Wendy Suares📺 @wsuares: “Friendly reminder to journos and friends- Don't RT quotes posted with misinformation. These were not the toes of adults/teachers. Carry on.” -- This begs the question: where would Raichik have gotten such an idea that adults or teachers were some of the feet pictured? From Suares herself, of course, in a now-deleted tweet. -- Dr.Carol X Lunz PhD She/Him,GED Alumni,POC-Ally @marinasmigielsk: “You’re the one that reported this.” https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GHooSMbWsAAS1T_?format=jpg&name=large -- Thanks for your outstanding 'journalism,' Wendy. Why did you delete your tweet without correcting your own record?

Returning to the video itself, the people with their toes getting sucked DO look a lot older than the kids genuflecting before them. However, we take Deer Creek at its word … for now … that none of those toes belonged to a faculty or staff member. But even setting that aside, the adults DID organize this event, which is highly inappropriate for a school fundraiser, no matter whose toes are getting sucked or who is doing the sucking. As one parent said, 'I feel like maybe they could've done a little bit more accountability and ownership in that statement for, 'Hey, you know, maybe we didn't fully think this thing through here.' Reactions on Twitter were not so polite, starting with Superintendant Walters himself. -- Superintendent Ryan Walters @RyanWaltersSupt: “This is disgusting. We are cleaning up this filth in Oklahoma schools. Our agency is investigating.”

Again, even if no adults participated, it's pretty gross that the school district thought this was in any way acceptable. If Walters has made anything clear in his time as superintendent, it is that he has zero tolerance for this type of activity in schools. Maybe not jail time, but some people will certainly be fired. And they should be. Deer Creek did report that their week-long fundraising efforts had generated more than $152,000 for Not Your Average Joe Coffee. Again, that sounds like a great cause and the money will be of great use in helping people with disabilities. But next time, Deer Creek? Maybe try a car wash or something.

• More at: KOKH Fox 25 - Deer Creek School District responds after video shows students licking toes for fundraiser
https://okcfox.com/news/local/deer-creek-school-district-responds-after-video-shows-students-licking-toes-for-fundraiser-wonderful-week-of-fundraising-not-your-average-joe-coffee-clash-of-classes-deer-creek-high-school-students-class-competition-feet
Rumble: What Is Going On At Edmond Oklahoma Deer Creek School District? Children Licking Feet For Fundraiser
https://rumble.com/v4gwvef-what-is-going-on-at-edmond-oklahoma-deer-creek-school-district-children-lic.html
Twitchy: What Is Going On at Deer Creek School District? Video Shows Children Licking Feet for Fundraiser
https://twitchy.com/grateful-calvin/2024/03/02/video-from-deer-creek-school-children-licking-feet-n2393531