Dear Editor:
I recently read Ms. Apuzzo’s article in The Dispatch where some
information was inaccurate or, in my opinion, needed
explaining.
Dear Editor:
I recently read Ms. Apuzzo’s article in The Dispatch where some information was inaccurate or, in my opinion, needed explaining. I am the choir director of the Brownell Academy Choir and felt misrepresented in certain places of her article. I am referring to, specifically, the treatment of the menorah.
First, I am disappointed that she did not take the time talk to me first. I realize that the night of a performance is probably not the place to have such a discussion, but to just write about it in an article without checking with a source seems unprofessional to me. If she had asked questions of me, I would have told her that the particular Menorah we used was from a Jewish family at Brownell. They were thrilled that we would use one of their own menorahs in our program. When I asked the mother what I needed to know about it, she just said she was so glad we were using it, and to take care of it.
I talked to the students about the seriousness of what they were handling and they treated it with respect. We were not instructed until the next month that there was a way to light the candles; we did, however, not “blow out” the candles as stated in the article, but used a snuffer to show respect. I have a videotape as proof. I also made the decision to not have the candles continue to burn because it seemed sacrilegious to have them burning through our next secular number of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Secondly, the words I used to “roll out the manger” were not used in the same way as “roll out the barrel …” The words were used because the manger was handmade by a father in the class who put it on wheels to make it easier for the students to roll it out to its place for our song. Anyone who knows me would know that I would never treat anything that is important to others insensitively. It’s the reason I called a rabbi in San Martin when we sang words in Hebrew in a previous song, and had several conversations with his assistant about the proper translation and pronunciation of the words. It is why I took the time to ask the mom what I needed to know about the menorah.
As for the comments about Brownell being a public school, I think we all know the obvious answer that it is a public school. If teachers used their instruction time to proselytize in a public school, they would be way out of line. However, if our job is to educate and give students experiences, then it is why my daughter, who is a student at Brownell, has spent many weeks learning about Islam, Muslims, Arab nations and history. It is why my son, who is a student at Gilroy High School, spent weeks learning about the theory of evolution even though it is contrary to some beliefs and controversial to many at large. It is why I as a teacher use historical documents in choir that are in Latin, German, and English, educating students on what is in the world. That is my job. It is their choice to investigate or make a personal commitment to something of their choosing.
Finally, although green eggs and ham were evidently served somewhere in the district, there were other lessons taking place about the personhood of St. Patrick. It is a scary place to only write about a limited experience without checking to see if there was a balance of true Irish heritage being taught. Had she checked with our school, she may have found teachers who were teaching about St. Patrick and it could have been encouraging to praise those teachers. In our choir class, we spent time learning about him and then attempting to write songs about him. Though shamrocks and green were sometimes easier to fit into the tunes we were using, the following lyrics were also used by the students, knowing these were the truths about the holiday: “Succat was born into a Gaelic family; when he grew up, he decided to be a missionary; 1500 years ago Patrick banged his drum, making all the bad snakes go; he was a slave who became a saint.”
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to express my thoughts.
Laurie Christian, Gilroy
Submitted Sunday, March 23 to ed****@****ic.com
