1996 | School tries to revoke Donna Cockrel's teaching certificate

Updated: Jan 19, 2019

Following the investigation, the Shelby County School officials advised the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board ("EPSB") that Donna Cockrel's behavior had been inappropriate, having allowed hemp seeds, an illegal substance, to be passed around to students in her class during Harrelson's class visit.

The school asked the state board to consider revoking her teaching certification. The article below was originally printed in the Editorial section (page A10) of the Lexington Herald- Leader on Friday, July 5, 1996 and expresses a local opinion in regards to the schools actions.

JUST HEMPENSTANCE?

SCRUTINY OF INNOVATIVE TEACHER COMES AT AN ODD TIME

Last month, fifth-graders at Simpsonville Elementary got a visit from a celebrity, a lesson in agriculture and a look at the legal process, all rolled into one.

Their teacher, Donna Cockrel, invited actor Woody Harrelson to come and talk about industrial hemp, and why he thinks it should be legal to grow it in Kentucky. Harrelson pointed out that unlike marijuana, hemp doesn't create a high when smoked - but federal and state laws still don't distinguish between the two.

Later, Harrelson was arrested for planting hemp seeds in protest of the law.

Cockrel deserves a commendation for putting an exciting twist on a timely topic. Instead, the visit earned her a Shelby County School Board investigation over "some complaints and concerns ... regarding [her] performance as a teacher," according to Linda Armstrong, an attorney for the school board.

What's the school board smoking?

Fifth-graders are old enough to debate issues such as the difference between marijuana and hemp, which can be used to make cloth, fiber and rope. In fact, each year Cockrel's classes discuss hemp, kenaf, soybeans and other alternatives to growing tobacco. It's a good thing Simpsonville has a teacher with the nerve to tackle the issue in a structured environment.

Parents were right to be concerned about a classroom visitor advocating a change in the law. But fifth grade is about the time when kids ought to learn how the legal system can be challenged. Leave that issue out, and lessons on the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution have to go, too.

Cockrel is an award-winning teacher who brought her students a lesson they'll never forget. The only thing worth investigating is Shelby County's failure to realize it.

On August 25, 1996, another article was published in the Lexington Herald-Leader titled "TEACHER FACES REVOCATION OVER HEMP IN CLASSROOM" and announced the school's request to the EPSB asking to revoke her certification.

The Standards Board, after investigating the matter, ultimately dismissed the complaint without prejudice, stating that there was an "insufficient basis to warrant a certificate revocation action."

Click the links below to learn more about the Harrelson and Cockrel trials:

1996 | Woody Harrelson speaks at Simpsonville Elementary

1996 | Woody Harrelson arrested for planting hemp in Kentucky

1996 | Donna Cockrel investigated after Woody Harrelson hemp presentation

1996 | Kentucky Hemp Museum & Library launches mobile exhibit

1996 | Woody Harrelson launches hemp essay contest

1996 | School trys to revoke Donna Cockrel's teaching certificate

1996 | Woody Harrelson defends Donna Cockrel

1996 | Woody Harrelson announces hemp essay winners

1996 | Charges dismissed against Woody Harrelson for Kentucky hemp planting

1997 | Kentucky Hemp Museum takes Harrelson, Cockrel and essay winner to movie premiere

1997 | Parents protest against Woody Harrelson's scheduled second visit