”
Congrats to the 50 Latino male students who have improved in one
or more classes this past semester. You will receive a note telling
you to come for a brunch celebration
– KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
”
– J. Hernandez
I pulled this from the Gilroy High School daily bulletin which I
received this morning.
“Congrats to the 50 Latino male students who have improved in one or more classes this past semester. You will receive a note telling you to come for a brunch celebration – KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.” – J. Hernandez
I pulled this from the Gilroy High School daily bulletin which I received this morning.
Over the weekend, members of the Alliance for Academic Excellence met with superintendent Edwin Diaz to discuss issues concerning Gilroy High School. One of my hot-button issues is the obsession with race and culture in our schools. It was heartening to hear Edwin Diaz state that “race is a distraction.” It is absolutely a distraction when it comes to improving the academic rigor of our schools. I, too, congratulate the above mentioned Latino male students for improving their grades, but I will also congratulate the students of all races, genders, cultures and religions who are working hard to succeed.
One of the board members who spoke to the alliance group felt that equity was an important issue in Gilroy. He is right, it is an issue. I will never know what it feels like to be a “brown face” in Gilroy. He won’t know what it’s like to be a frustrated mother. He won’t know what it’s like to have to suffer through a series of events that directly impact the experience of a child sitting in a classroom.
The curriculum for ninth grade Global Studies is severely undermining the religious instruction of my child (and many others) by delving into the subject of Liberation Theology. Most recently, the school has sanctioned “talent productions” which have no place in a drama department.
My children have been involved in theater for many years. As a parent, I will not allow my child to participate in a drama program that does not teach drama. I would love her to have that opportunity, but do not want her to participate under the tutelage of a drama teacher who sees no problem with girls talking about performing oral sex under a table or calling people “latent fags.” The fact that he did stop what is loosely called a “raunchy dance” leads me to question his judgment. I’m no prude, but my “raunchy” meter kicks in when talking about crabs.
Principal Bravo did not attend the Showcase and, like Meeker, had never heard complaints about its content. He, however, said he was “not happy to hear about it.” It’s something I will be looking into,” Bravo said Monday.
How these things keep happening is making me lose faith in the gatekeepers over at the high school. I want to support Principal Bravo, because my daughter loves Gilroy High. But he has got to start overseeing what goes on and put out the potential fires instead of reacting when the problem arrives in the form of a headline in The Dispatch.
Last year, El Portal parents were in an uproar over a sexually explicit presentation at that school. The lesson that should come out of that incident is that parents need to be informed. The drama curriculum should clearly state that “sexually explicit improvisational sketches are welcomed and encouraged.”
Students who have no interest in actual drama will then forego the class, and look to pursue acting outside the school. Students whose goal in life is to be a shock jock or a contestant on “Elimidate” can than fill up the “drama” class. Parents should be warned that their student may lose instructional time to view these programs, and they should have the opportunity to opt out. Or – and I’m just throwing this out in case we want to go another route – we could scrap the “talent showcases.”
If the current teacher doesn’t want to teach acting, hire someone who does.
I want to recommend a book that has thousands of wonderful quotes in it. “Mexifornia” by Victor Davis Hanson is an outstanding book. It addresses the problems of immigration facing our state and talks candidly about the downward spiral which swallows up illegal aliens who come from Mexico. It is a must read if we are to start addressing the problems which face us as a nation, and most acutely as a state.
“I am a war president.” Mr. President, many of us wish you were not a war president. War was not foisted upon us, war was a decision that you – our leader – decided was necessary. And the case to go to war was built upon the premise that an eminent threat was present in Iraq. This eminent threat was not Saddam Hussein himself, someone we can all agree to hate, but the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction which he had squirreled away.
Now that we are entrenched over there, each passing day brings more casualties, more resentment of our troops, growing hatred of our government, and further confirmation that there never was any imminent threat to the United States. I suspect that the weapons of mass destruction will not be found, but maybe I am just being cynical. I mean, we can’t even find the evidence that proves that our president fulfilled all his obligations to the National Guard.
