Behind the Photo
When Bill Wiles (pictured left) was a teacher at Mount St. Joseph Catholic High School in Rutland, VT he was gifted an Italian silk Marilyn Monroe tie by one of his students. The student had purchased the seductive Marilyn as a gift on a school trip to Italy. The Nuns however were not impressed when Mr. Wiles decided to wear that tie to work. Forced to remove it amid the major uproar, a student relinquished his own tie for his teacher Mr. Wiles to wear for the remainder of the day to avoid any further commotion. Not long after, Mr. Wiles was let go by the school.
At graduation that year Mr. Wiles was seeing his students off when the student he had given his scandalous Monroe tie to as a graduation present walked on stage to receive his diploma. Upon shaking the Nun’s hand the student promptly turned towards the audience, unzipped his gown, and out flopped the Monroe tie. The audience was decidedly amused.
Soon after Mr. Wiles received another Monroe tie as a gift. That tie has been worn by Mr. Wiles at every graduation he has attended since for over 16 years. That includes four graduations for his two kids, eight high school graduations as an educator and nine college commencements. You’ll see Mr. Wiles at Castleton’s commencement just as he has been since 2006 as the Director of Grants and Special Projects. Maybe you’ll even see Marilyn.
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