Lets face it. Some kids are athletic enough to earn a varsity letter and some aren't.
That's not correct anymore, at least not around here. While the game time needed to letter in
sports probably hasn't changed much, the opportunity to letter in
something has drastically increased. A student can letter in choir, theater (including sets, etc.), academics, and even some types of volunteer hours, and the list goes on.
Giving the Downs kid a made-up letter is diminishing the kid and indicates lazy parents. I'd bet there is a niche the kid could succeed at on his own terms and actually earn the award.
