In January, 2015 three students at South Portland High School in Maine added the words "if you'd like to" to the morning announcement for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, in order to clarify that the First Amendment protects the right of students to choose not to salute the flag. Neither the students nor their teachers were prepared for the controversy that followed--a controversy that taught the community more than it may have wanted to know about the persuasive force of civic rituals.