In an attempt to also educate my
1st and 2nd graders’ previous teachers, in whose classes
I had volunteered in past years, and with whom (I thought) I had developed good
relationships, I forwarded my husband’s letter to them in confidence, hoping
they could use the information to inform their teaching.
After my husband had written the
letter, I continued to volunteer in my two daughters’ classrooms as before. On Wednesday,
April 3rd , at the conclusion of my volunteering session in my 2nd grader's class at Wayne Elementary, while the children were in the hall and returning
to their classroom from the library, I asked the second grade teacher, “Did you receive my
husband’s e-mail?” She responded angrily, “Yes I did. I’m still processing it.
I don’t know how to respond.” I said, “If you’d like to meet to discuss it, we
are willing to do that.” She responded, shaking with anger, “No, I really
wouldn’t.”
The teacher eventually did write
an e-mail response to my husband’s letter on “An Arctic Tale”, which stated:
“I have read your email. Exposing students to a variety of resources
and understanding vocabulary is part of the Common Core Standards which our curriculum
is based upon. Having said that, I don't feel it is necessary to pursue this
topic any further.”
…to which my husband responded:
“This raises two
questions:
1. What does understanding vocabulary have to do
with the showing of “An Arctic Tale"?
2. Is there no standard for the truthfulness of
the resources presented?
Openness and
understanding is most necessary, Bill Ward”
The teacher ultimately responded,
“Mr. and Mrs.
Ward,
If you have any
further concerns or questions, please contact our principal, M. Principal.
M. Teacher”
So we set up an appointment with
the principal.
In the meantime, life went on,
and both my daughters brought home “Social and Emotional Learning” homework from
the “Second Step Program” (an IL state-mandated educational program dedicated
to teaching “empathy and emotion management”). The homework required students
to state ways they managed their emotions and/or showed respect and coached
parents on how to teach these skills to children. The homework was required to
be signed by parents. We objected to being told how to raise our children, and
so decided to ignore the homework and not turn it in.
On April 17th, my
second-grader came up to me during my volunteering time and said, “Mommy, I
have to turn in that sheet [on social and emotional learning] tomorrow or I
will be in trouble.” Since the teacher had pressed my daughter, I said to her,
at the end of my volunteering time (again in the hallway and not directly in
front of students – this becomes important later) “M. Teacher, it’s not
my daughter's doing that the homework on the emotional stuff was not turned in.
I’m not super comfortable with…” and here M. Teacher angrily cut me off and
said, “Fine, whatever” and turned away from me so that no further discussion
was possible. I wrote a follow up letter
to the principal describing the second grade teacher's unacceptable behavior in anticipation of
our meeting with the principal.
Upon further research into the “Second
Step” program, I learned that it is produced by an organization called “The
Committee for Children”, “a nonprofit working globally to promote children’s
social and academic success.” Browsing their website I discovered an entire page
dedicated to LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) issues. Since I had
had a good relationship with my 1st grader’s teacher up until this point, I decided to bring this to her attention. During
my volunteering time in her class, during a break in the action, and being
careful not to disrupt things, and making sure none of the children could see
the web page on my iPad, I showed the teacher the page. Her eyes grew large and
she said, “We don’t discuss that here”, to which I responded that I was sure
she didn’t but that I was concerned that school money was being spent with this
organization for the Second Step curriculum. I later found out she told the principal that I had expressed concern about it.
Then came “Earth Day”. On April
22, my 1st grader brought home a poem called, “Earth Day” by Jane Yolen,
which reads:
“I am the Earth
And the Earth is
me.
Each blade of
grass,
Each honey tree,
Each bit of mud,
And stick and
stone
Is blood and
muscle,
Skin and bone.
And just as I
Need every bit
Of me to make
My body fit,
So Earth needs
Grass and stone
and tree
And things that
grow here
Naturally.
That’s why we
Celebrate this
day.
That’s why
across
The world we
say:
As long as life,
As dear, as
free,
I am the Earth
And the Earth is
me.”
I wrote the following response:
“M. Teacher,
My daughter brought
home this poem yesterday and told us that the class read it aloud together:
While the poem
expresses a sentiment that may seem like it merely expresses admiration for the
earth, stating that “I am the Earth…And the Earth is me” (notice the capitalization
of the word “Earth”) is actually Earth worship. Indeed, the religion that
believes God is in everything and everyone, and that we are all part of each
other and the earth is called pantheism. Or, to quote from Wikipedia,
“Pantheism is the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing immanent
abstract God; or that the universe, or nature, and God are equivalent.” This is
in direct opposition to the teachings of mainstream Christianity (and Judaism);
indeed, it would be considered idolatry. (I am sure that was not your
intention). I certainly would not want my daughter mouthing these words in worship
of the Earth.
Please consider
this when choosing future curriculum.”
Instead of answering me, M. Teacher forwarded my letter to the principal.
And that brings me to April 24,
2013. I had shown up at my normal volunteering time for my second grader's class but
was told that M. Teacher had to leave suddenly and my services would not be
needed. I later found out that the principal happened to be visiting my 2nd grader’s classroom and my daughter asked where I was. M. Principal lied to my
daughter and told her that I had a meeting with M. Principal at 11 AM and so
couldn’t volunteer in M. Teacher's class today.
Then we had our meeting with the
principal. M. Principal first stated that the school secretary would
be taking notes during our meeting.
We then discussed the film “The
Arctic Tale”, and M. Principal defended the second grade teacher's assertion that the film was
a part of Common Core and further emphasized that M. Teacher's intention was
merely to show a film about Arctic Regions, since the class had just finished
studying that topic. Any objective observer would have to admit that the film
has an agenda, asserted my husband and I. We stated that anything could be read
by the students with the purported purpose of “understanding vocabulary” (“Are
we going to read “Mein Kampf” or The Koran?” we asked). This part of the
discussion was lengthy, with us asserting that the film had an agenda and the principal stating that the agenda was not the second grade teacher's motivation.
We then discussed the Second Step
program and its connection to the radical gay agenda. M. Principal said that piece
was not covered in elementary school but probably would be in higher grades.
We discussed the poem “Earth Day”
and my e-mail to the 1st
grade teacher, and how M. Principal disagreed that it constituted
Earth worship, but they would re-consider the message in the future.
Then came the really bad news. Because I had
forwarded my husband’s letter to the second grade teacher to two other teachers (at least
one of them had alerted the principal to this fact), I had created “negativity”.
Because I had discussed these issues with teachers during my volunteering time,
I was “disruptive”. (Although recall, the second grade teacher refused to meet with us so I
had no other opportunity to discuss anything with her). Given that I was “negative”
and “disruptive”, I would not be allowed to volunteer in my children’s
classrooms any longer. I asked for a copy of the notes taken by the secretary, and
M. Principal responded, “No, those are my personal notes.” I told her a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act)
request would be issued.
We have not hidden from our
children the agenda that is being presented by the teachers in the cases above
and why it is wrong. Nor have we hidden our struggle with their teachers from
them. I came home early from work to write this article and greeted my children
as they came home from school. I told them I could no longer volunteer in their
classrooms and the reasons why. My children started to cry and so did I. Why it
is not possible to have an open dialogue with their teachers regarding their education
on things that matter is perplexing and it saddens me greatly.
