Kansas School Bans Students From Naming Kirk, Trump or Jesus as Role Models
19th January 2026
Yet another example of why American parents are increasingly pulling their kids out of public institutions and turning to home schooling. Parents at an elementary school in Kansas are upset after students were reportedly told that they were not allowed to list President Donald Trump, late conservative activist Charlie Kirk and even Jesus Christ as their role models for an assignment.
The incident at Marshall Elementary School in Eureka, Kansas occurred in October and only recently came to light because students were originally instructed not to tell their parents about what happened. The American Center for Law & Justice, described as “a politically conservative, Christian-based legal organization,” has filed a formal civil rights complaint with the school.
The complaint accuses the district and Marshall Elementary School of religious discrimination, political or viewpoint discrimination, violation of free speech rights and retaliation. Students say a school guidance counselor, Kacey Countryman, gave sixth-graders an assignment called “Find Your Voice” as part of their “Leader In Me” program. They were asked to identify their role models, but conservative role models were apparently not allowed.
“When a student identified Charlie Kirk as a role model, the guidance counselor got very uncomfortable and refused to allow this name to be written on the board, yelling that he was ‘not a hero,’ and that he was not a role model,” the complaint says. When a student chose Trump as their role model, the guidance counselor reportedly had the same response.