Leonard Cohen Hallelujah Project at Bay High School
I would love to have your input on this exchange. I will not editorialize, merely let the emails speak for themselves.
I wrote:
Dear Mr. Husfelt,
How much investigation goes into the Bay District Schools endorsement of projects? I know how disgusted I am with Common Core. I write extensively on it on my blog.
But I would have thought a bit more thought would have gone into allowing this to be sponsored by the Bay District Schools. This is considered worthy? Why?
You endorsed this?
Husfelt responded:
Dear Ms. Ramsey,
I appreciate your concern, but this project was not 'endorsed' by BDS. I have asked Sharon Michalik, Director of Communications, to share the detail with you and hopefully she will be able to get it to you today.
Thanks for your patience and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Bill Husfelt
Ms. Michalik responded:
Ms. Ramsey:
Mr. Husfelt shared your blog with me and we definitely have a passion for students in common!
I did want to clear up a couple of misconceptions though. This event was my idea but it was quickly adopted by the Bay High students who actually have their own program called Streetlights that works with homeless teens. The students make all of the arrangements, secure the private sponsors, design the t-shirts and coordinate the day’s events. They are working on a partnership with downtown businesses to promote “dining in downtown” after the event next year and hope to continue to refine their marketing skills to increase visibility for their cause.
Bay District shared their event, as we have others, in our district-wide communications to support the hard work of the students. These same students spearheaded Unity Day (#UnityBay) and Dads Take Your Child To School Day and if you’ll look back you’ll see we shared those events as well to support them and increase visibility.
The kids work hard for the cause because they literally have friends who are homeless. And their work generates results! Just this morning the lady who coordinates our district efforts for the homeless let them know that she has been overwhelmed with the donations she’s received from this event this year.
I’m sorry that you didn’t enjoy the event or were surprised that it wasn’t what you expected. We are inundated each year with positive feedback from people who attended but I completely understand that every event is not for everyone.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas and I hope we run into each other at some future event so we can be properly introduced.
Sharon
I then addressed both Mr. Husfelt and Ms. Michalik:
Mr. Husfelt and Ms. Michalik:
Thank you very much for your nice response.
As you say, this was your idea, Ms. Michalik. You are the Human Resources Director, the one who hires teachers who teach our children. Are there not laws that prohibit using children for political purposes taking them out of their regular classes to promote a political agenda. You acknowledge that it was you who selected the vehicle for this event that had no business being associated with our education system because it is totally lacking in quality and has only political connotations. Can just any employee access any Bay District School facility for any purpose without oversight by the Superintendent and the Board?
Had you read the lyrics, Mr. Husfelt? Did you know the origin of the SNL Cohen's Hallelujah as it is associated with Democrat politics and with SNL Cold Open with Kate McKinnon after the election?
You say, the children took over? They are students because they need direction. You invited the public who had no bias to attend an event that represents what you stand for. Whether you intended it or not that is exactly what this is. This is perhaps one of the most blatant examples of the perversion of our school system as vehicles for a Social Justice agenda I have ever seen.
May I point out that they are the students; you are the adults. Even more so, when the rubber hits the road, you are responsible for making sure those children are not just safe (why are they roaming about downtown?) but well-educated. Can they write articulately, spell their words correctly, add, multiply, divide.
My husband is a retired attorney. I am sure he would tell you that the legal consequences of those children being injured or molested while on one of those downtown jaunts, could be expensive.
Christmas is the most sacred time of the year and Handel's Messiah would have at least given credence to Bay District Schools having some standards as well as a big heart.
Handel's Messiah would pass the muster of cultural literacy and at the same time elevate the image of Bay District Schools. I thought perhaps a school orchestra/band would play the Handel's Messiah and you would hand out the words/music to folks who came. It would draw choirs and individuals, I imagine, all with the purpose of singing and donating to a worthy project.. We would assume whatever part we sing (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) and then go to our respective sections and attempt our very best effort at that music. One woman told me she had practiced in the car with her music for an entire week before coming to this event. You could elevate spirits and musical literacy at the same time. Think of the lessons on Handel and church music that could accompany this.
Handel's Messiah would have been something to be proud of. And would have encouraged the community to see the benefit of music in our schools.
I am not reassured by the lack of oversight by the Board as to what goes out to the public as an example of a product for the Bay District Schools.
Many of these children will wind up homeless if they do not get the education they need to be getting. Using them as models of community involvement robs them of their own education. Take your Dads to School Day? You call this Marketing? Unity Day? You are making little Democrat community organizers out of these children - not students qualified for employment anywhere!
I am afraid these children would be humiliated if Jay Leno ever encountered them on the street and asked them a real question about History or anything else!
Our school children are a charity unto themselves. We invest in schools not to produce social warriors, but educated citizens!
The buck stops with you, Mr. Husfelt. Do you endorse politicizing children and calling it educating them? Do they not deserve a real education?
Sincerely,
Sharman Ramsey
* I just noticed that Ms. Michalik has apparently gotten a promotion. She is now Director of Communications, though the News Herald noted in 2016 she was the Human Resources Director. Far cry from the Education Reporter for the News Herald, but quite a common one in my observation.
"Flash mob turned choir" WJHG
Let me commend those students for the quality of this video and the heart that went into the development of the video.
I have spent some time on the Facebook Page and website now and appreciate the compassion that went into developing this. I was disgusted by the lyrics, but impressed by the videography and the purpose. There are some talented children in that class.
https://www.facebook.com/BayCountyHallelujah/videos/1023908591109877/?fref=mentions&pnref=story
This is the good version. Absolutely Beautiful!!!!!!
Would have stirred the soul of anyone and been a positive for our children. Even if it wasn't Handel's Messiah.
So, why take that absolutely beautiful music and corrupt it with these words?
And Maybe there’s a God above
All I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
It’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.
http://bhsmaad5.wixsite.com/baycountyhallelujah
What was the purpose?
Can there be consequences beyond our intended purpose when we venture into risky psychological manipulation of children through the therapeutic classroom, values clarification and intended alterations of attitudes and beliefs?
https://www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/opinion/item/11151-stephen-nalepa-second-grade-victim-of-death-ed
Had eight-year-old Stephen Nalepa not been shown a movie about suicide in his second-grade class on March 23, 1990, he would now be 22 years old and probably enjoying life as a young adult. But, apparently, the educators at his elementary school decided to show the film to these second-graders to see what would happen.
Had eight-year-old Stephen Nalepa not been shown a movie about suicide in his second-grade class on March 23, 1990, he would now be 22 years old and probably enjoying life as a young adult. But, apparently, the educators at his elementary school decided to show the film to these second-graders to see what would happen.
After all, the school had adopted Professor Benjamin Bloom’s humanist educational objectives as outlined in his book, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, in which he wrote:
By educational objectives, we mean explicit formulations of the ways in which students are expected to be changed by the educative process. That is, the ways in which they will change in their thinking, their feelings, and their actions....
The evidence points out convincingly to the fact that age is a factor operating against attempts to effect a complete or thorough-going reorganization of attitudes and values....
The evidence collected thus far suggests that a single hour of classroom activity under certain conditions may bring about a major reorganization in cognitive as well as affective behaviors.
What an intriguing idea: Just one hour of the right humanist lesson might completely change a child’s behavior forever. Maybe that’s what the educators were thinking when they embarked on their experiment to see what would happen to these eight-year-olds if they were shown this film on suicide. The Detroit News of 3/27/90 described exactly what happened:
An 8-year-old boy hanged himself on 3/24/90 in Canton, Michigan, one day after seeing a film on suicides shown to his class. Stephen Nalepa was found by his brother Jason about 9:30 p.m., Saturday, dangling by a belt from his bunk bed, his feet barely an inch off the floor.
Stephen’s shocked parents, Larry and Debby Nalepa, said their son’s hanging may have been an accident inspired by a movie on suicides shown to his class Friday at Gallimore Elementary School in Canton....
Three officials at Plymouth-Canton Community Schools said they had never heard of the movie and refused to comment.
What was Stephen like? Was he neurotic or depressed? He had an IQ of 130 (100 is the norm), was an outgoing child, played soccer and basketball, collected baseball cards, and took art and music lessons. In other words, he was a perfectly normal American boy who did not expect the school to perform experiments on him that would lead to his death.
On November 8, 1990, the Nalepas filed a wrongful death cause of action in Wayne County Circuit Court against the parties involved in the production, distribution, and showing of the film, entitled Nobody’s Useless: Encyclopedia Britannica (distributor), Osmond Productions (producer), the Wayne Oakland Library Federation (which obtained the film from defendant Wayne County Intermediate School District, and which distributed the film to the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools), the Plymouth-Canton School Board, Dr. Jacqueline Hisey (school psychologist), Shirley Spaniel (executive director of elementary education), Jane Armstrong (Stephen’s teacher), Norma Foster and Alice Brown (second-grade teachers who showed the film to the three second-grade classes). The Nalepas’ attorneys requested a trial by jury but were denied it by the court.
Curiously enough, the Plymouth-Canton schools had adopted Professor Bloom’s Outcome Based Education and Mastery Learning in 1982. Did the educators read Taxonomy of Educational Objectives so that they could implement Bloom’s ideas? The Nalepas’ attorneys had obtained an affidavit from another parent whose son saw the same film. The parent testified:
Shortly thereafter, my daughter Janie telephoned me at work and said that Jimmy had just tried to kill himself by climbing on top of the freezer in the basement, tying a noose around his neck and pretending to jump. When I came home and asked why Jimmy had done this, he said because the boy did it in the movie Jimmy had seen at school.
An affidavit from Encyclopedia Britannica stated that the film was released for distribution in 1980 and that by 1990 it had been shown to at least 1,800,000 children without a claim ever having been made by anyone against the distributor. Just because nobody filed a claim doesn’t mean that many of those children who saw the film didn’t suffer traumas of one sort or another.
How did the educators defend themselves? After the judge dismissed the case against Encyclopedia Britannica, the teachers’ attorneys argued:
Allowing the civil action to continue and/or the imposition of civil damages against these Defendants would violate the right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.... The complaint filed by Plaintiffs herein alleges duties that resemble teacher malpractice and not those dealing with personal injury proximately caused by a teacher.... However ... Michigan law does not recognize teacher malpractice as a theory of recovery.
On November 9, 1992, Judge Turner dismissed all of the complaints against all of the defendants. He wrote in a semi-literate opinion:
Although defendants herein owed plaintiffs’ decedent a duty of reasonable care, as a matter of law that duty did not include an obligation to view and thereafter decline to exhibit the subject film based on the contingency that a student might resultingly commit suicide.
The judge also agreed with the defendants that they were protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Of course, the Nalepas were devastated by the judge’s opinion and took the case to the Court of Appeals. But they had a problem obtaining documents from the educators, such as the teachers’ lesson plans. The reason? The teachers destroyed them. Indeed, Stephen’s own teacher, Jane Armstrong, testified at her deposition that she had destroyed her lesson plan book for the 1989-1990 school year. She had no recollection of what was in her lesson plan for the day the film was shown, March 23, 1990. If she was so innocent of wrongdoing, why did she destroy her lesson plan book, the day-by-day record of her entire year’s work, and why couldn’t she remember anything about the day the film was shown?
Finally, on November 23, 1994, four years after Stephen’s death, the Court of Appeals announced its decision. It dismissed the Nalepas’ case against all of the defendants. The court had decided that the school district and the superintendent were “entitled to absolute governmental immunity from tort liability when acting within the scope of their authority.... The film dealt with mental health issues, about which our state has evinced a concern.” The court’s opinion further stated:
The rationale for declining to recognize claims of teacher malpractice stems from the collaborative nature of the teaching process.... Even where the chain of causation is complete and direct, recovery may sometimes be denied on grounds of public policy because ... allowance of recovery would enter a field that has no sensible or just stopping point.
Further, we conclude that recognizing the cause of action could lead to a flood of litigation which would be detrimental to our already overburdened educational system.... Finally we do not wish to embroil our courts into overseeing the day-to-day operations of our schools.
In other words, “parents beware,” because the educators can do just about anything they want with your children and you will have no recourse in the court system. Indeed, the Nalepa case provides homeschoolers with a very strong argument against any government regulation or oversight of their children’s home education. If educators have absolute governmental immunity from tort liability, it would be risky for homeschoolers to have anything to do with such educators.
On Saturday morning, March 24, 1990, the last day of his life, Stephen Nalepa was tested to see if he qualified for the talented and gifted program. Terri Michaelis, the program coordinator, provided an account of how Stephen behaved. She wrote:
Mrs. Nalepa also asked me to comment on my recollection of Stephen during the testing on March 24th. I picked up the students at the front of the school. Stephen first came to my attention when I called the roll from my list to see if I had everyone I should. Stephen corrected my mispronunciation of his last name self-confidently. He sat directly in front of my desk. He was active during testing with a lot of moving in his seat during the test. There were three short breaks while testing, during which he moved about with others and chatted at my desk. He tried hard and seemed to want to do well. He finished the test. The whole group left chatting and my memory is that Stephen was glad the test was over and as eager as the rest of the group to go home and play on a sunny Saturday. My memory of Stephen is that of a bright energetic second grader.
Despite all that the courts did to clear the teachers of any wrongdoing, the Nalepas know that if Stephen had not been shown that film by his teacher on March 23, 1990, he’d be alive today.
And Maybe there’s a God above
All I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
It’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.
A friend asked me what was wrong with raising money for the Homeless.
There is nothing objectionable about high
school students (on their own time) raising money for a project. You see,
Margo, I come from the old school where academics were the purpose of schools,
not social engineering. I wanted my History Students to know History and my
English students to write well, be exposed to great examples of literature, to
understand terms like metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia and then actually use them in
writing. I wanted to open the doors to the truly great authors of the world and
discuss what it was that made their writing great. I taught about the dangers
of Communism, the different aspects of Political Science, Civics. There was so
much content to master, I was jealous of the time I had them in the classroom.
I HATED get out of class events whether after a fund raiser or a field trip. We
had so much to learn! But, when the school becomes the engine to push this
Social Justice Agenda, I rail against it.
The children in our schools will be the
homeless of tomorrow if their academic preparation is poor. How many of the
"graduates" of Bay District Schools must take remedial Reading and
Math?
Schools, like the Army, have a mission. They
have no business wandering into the realm of therapeutic classrooms, changing attitudes and beliefs with their social engineering. The mission of our schools is the academic preparation of our children.
And they are failing there.
That is why when I see funds misappropriated
OUT OF THE CLASSROOM to feel good political projects I get angry. And then they demand more money "for the schools."
There is definitely a place for raising money for those homeless children. It simply is not the place of other children to be the pawns of those promoting that feel good program to be raising the money!
There is definitely a place for raising money for those homeless children. It simply is not the place of other children to be the pawns of those promoting that feel good program to be raising the money!
I am sorry. I have seen too many community
organizers get their own halos polished using children for those events to
appreciate the "goodness" of doing such. There should be clubs and
organizations after school to participate in events like that. What about the Key Clubs of the past? Let us treasure
the time in school to actually prepare our children for tomorrow.
| http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-average-sat-score-for-every-college-major-2014-10 |
I actually did some research to find out the literacy in Bay District Schools.
With scores like this, do you think they have time to be working on service projects?
2013 Reading Scores. 2017 is unavailable as of yet.
Grade 12 only 39 percent of Florida students taking the National Assessment of Educational Progress scored at or above Proficient. Those 9th graders who couldn't make it had dropped out by this point, permitting the score to rise to 39 percent of Florida Students taking the National Assessment
Grade 8 only 30 Percent Scored at or above Proficient.
Grade 4
Grade 4 39 percent were At or above Proficient. That means 61 Percent of Florida students are not proficient readers.
Do you realize that in 2013 only 39 percent of 12th graders, 30 percent of 8th graders and 30 percent of 4th graders read at a Proficient level? What does that mean for the workforce for the State of Florida? Or more importantly the future of those children?
https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/
Information below is from the 2017 Florida Department of Education website.
ONLY 37 percent of U.S. children are proficient in reading at the 12th grade. That bodes well for their future, doesn't it? You could tell they were in for trouble with only 36 percent being proficient in the fourth grade.
And Maybe there’s a God above
All I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
It’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.
Parents have rights Against Intrusive Surveys PROTECTION OF PUPIL RIGHTS AMENDMENT and SEL (Social Emotional Learning)
If I Ruled the Schools
Common Core, Sylvia Plath, and Death Education
https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/common-core-sylvia-plath-and-death.html
The Truth about Phonics that will Help You Help Your Child! Whole Language: A Fraud Perpetrated upon Our Students. One of Many?
The Tragedy of the Math Mess and Another Way
MATH WARS. ONCE AGAIN INTO THE FRAY
COMMON CORE MATH
The Reality of Bay District Schools. Only Fifty Percent Read Proficiently. Is there hope?
The Four Period Day: Students as Guinea Pigs and Professional advancement for "innovators"
The Tale of Last Hope for Local Control
DEMONIC ROOTS TO COMMON CORE? VISIT YOUR CHILD'S THERAPEUTIC CLASSROOM.
THE GENEALOGY OF COMMON CORE: BILL GATES/UNESCO/ROBERT MULLER//ALICE BAILEY/LUCIS TRUST
THE CHICAGO CONNECTION TO COMMON CORE
does anybody really believe anymore? does anybody really care?https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/does-anybody-really-believe-anymore.html
Sounding the Alarm! Today's Therapeutic Classroom. What are you going to do about it?
Spalding Writing Road to Reading and John Winston of Parks Elementary Natchitoches, Louisiana
https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/spalding-writing-road-to-reading-and.html
RETARDING AMERICA THE IMPRISONMENT OF POTENTIAL
NOTE FROM ROBERT SWEET OF THE NATIONAL RIGHT TO READ FOUNDATION
The DARE PROGRAM 20 years later.
https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-dare-program-20-years-later-more.html
Merry Christmas! Meet Alliwishus, The Elf Mother Met at the Battle of the Bulge
My Mother. My hero who won a Battle Ribbon at the Battle of the Bulge. December 16, 1944. A SCRAPBOOK LOOK FROM JEAN BRONSON GILLIS BURSON.
LEONARD COHEN HALLELUJAH PROJECT AT BAY HIGH SCHOOL AND ESTABLISHMENT RELIGION, SECULAR HUMANISM, IN OUR SCHOOLS
https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-project-at-bay.html
WHY SHOULD CONSERVATIVES, CHRISTIANS AND THE THE FAITH COMMUNITY BE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS? SUBSCRIBE TO THE PANAMA CITY NEWS HERALD AND GET WASHINGTON POST FREE
PEACE EDUCATION? CONFLICT RESOLUTION? TEACHING TOLERANCE? COMMON CORE
TRADITIONAL OR PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION. DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE? HAS POLITICS AFFECTED YOUR CHILD'S MATH EDUCATION?
RETARDING AMERICA THE IMPRISONMENT OF POTENTIAL
NOTE FROM ROBERT SWEET OF THE NATIONAL RIGHT TO READ FOUNDATION
DELPHI TECHNIQUE, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT CONVINCED A GULLIBLE PUBLIC TO BUY INTO COMMON CORE
COMMON CORE: PORNOGRAPHY 101
MIDDLE SCHOOL AGENDA FOR SEXUAL ORIENTATION AS A PART OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
BEHAVIOR MODELS ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS
CULTURE WAR AND COMMON CORE
SOCIAL STUDIES AND COMMON CORE
TEACHERS AS LIBERATORS PRODUCE STUDENTS AS REVOLUTIONARIES: Whole Language Live On!
RADICAL POSSIBILITIES: YOUR CHILDREN
https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/radical-possibilities-your-children.html
Response to AL.Com article "Alabama Superintendent Proposal to Raise Academic Standards."
SECULAR HUMANISM IS NOW THE RELIGION OF OUR SCHOOLS
COMMON CORE: THE EMPEROR IS WEARING NO CLOTHES
COMMON CORE=PETRI DISH FOR RADICALS
https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/common-core-petri-dish-for-radicals.html
REVOLUTIONARY PEDAGOGY
Revolutionary Pedagogy: Or, so you thought reading, writing and calculating were why you sent your child to school?
EDUCATION TODAY:
Politics, Profits, Position, Power, and Prejudice published 1995
CAPSTONE EDUCATION (UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA) AND MY CONCERNS
CONFLICT RESOLUTION OR POLITICAL INDOCTRINATION?
DELPHI TECHNIQUE, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, AND THE EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT CONVINCED THE GULLIBLE NATION TO BUY INTO COMMON CORE
WHO DO WE HOLD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE FAILURE OF OUR SCHOOLS?
PUBLIC EDUCATION SHOULD EMPOWER PARENTS
CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN EDUCATION
THE CIVIL WAR IN EDUCATION
SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS
TAKE A KNEE
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