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AMERICAN FORK — After the community banded together around a former classmate who died of cancer earlier this year, the Alpine School District approved an exception for her to be recognized at American Fork High School's graduation.
Samantha Corey died at age 17 in January, following a battle with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. The family was hoping to honor Samantha at her high school graduation and was almost stopped by a school district policy.
Kimberly Corey, Samantha's mother, said her daughter fought through weekly chemotherapy treatments but relapsed last fall. According to Corey, Samantha hoped to reach the "milestone" of her high school graduation and had earned her diploma before her passing.
The family wanted to honor her achievement at American Fork High School's graduation on May 22.
"This was a big part of where she wanted to be and what she wanted to be doing at this time and so, yeah, she just worked really hard in school, and we want to just celebrate that," Corey said.
Corey said as graduation approached, school administrators were made aware of a district policy restricting families' ability to walk in the ceremony in honor of deceased students or say the names of the students at graduation.
In response, many community members started sharing their thoughts on social media, expressing their support for her family to be able to walk in her honor or have her name read. A petition titled "Let Samantha Corey walk" was started Tuesday and already received more than 2,440 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.
Alpine School District spokesman Rich Stowell said Tuesday night that decisions about memorials in graduations reflect "our sincere desire to appropriately balance the need to remember those who have passed and the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishment of all graduates."
Stowell said schools can ask for clarification on how to implement district policy and can request exceptions to be made to the policy.
The school district released a statement Wednesday afternoon that said American Fork High School sought clarification about the student memorial policy and that the district leadership team reviewed and approved an exception for Samantha.
"Samantha was loved by her classmates, teachers and school staff. She will be recognized at the school's graduation ceremony," the district's statement said. "We look forward to celebrating the accomplishment of Samantha and all of our other remarkable students who have achieved so much."
"Policy is designed to help us effectively administer our programs across the district, and our process for exceptions allows us to recognize the uniqueness and beauty of individuals and their stories. We are grateful to our high school administrators who so effectively and passionately advocate for their schools," the school district said.
Corey told KSL-TV on Tuesday night that Samantha was "a light" who "smiled her way through everything" and was a great example to others of how to go through difficult things.
"She had a hard, hard life and she lived it with grace and with such a beautiful spirit," Corey said. "We're just proud."
Contributing: Andrew Adams
