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Last week, the DeWitt Public School Superintendent, Dr. Shanna Spickard, and Schavey Road Elementary Principal, Liz Crouch, sent a letter to the parents of kindergarten and first-grade students informing them of an upcoming lesson on pronoun usage.
The lesson would be taught by the classroom teacher and the school social worker using the book: “They She He Me: Free to Be!”
The Superintendent and Principal stated: “The lesson goals are to help students share and explore pronouns through discussion and literature to embrace differences and promote acceptance.”
The letter further stated that parents had one week — until April 18 — to review the lesson plans and/or opt their child out of the lessons.
The school was inundated with angry parents who demanded the lessons not be presented at all.
On April 19, the Superintendent issued a statement revealing the Schavey Elementary School will not be presenting the lessons for safety reasons: “I have made the decision to cancel the mini-lesson to help ensure the safety of our entire school community and maintain our focus on providing a world-class education to all learners.”
According to the Superintendent, “several of our hard-working school staff members have received inappropriate, angry, and threatening phone calls, emails, and social media messages.”
Of course, parents were angry, and of course, the phone calls, emails, and social media messages appeared threatening. Parents are tired of indoctrination masquerading as education, especially for five and six-year-olds.
They are tired of public school teachers and social workers attempting to confuse their children in the name of “compassion and kindness.”
The Superintendent stated the goal of the mini-lesson was to “promote Dewitt Public Schools’ vision of a safe, nurturing, and supportive learning environment where all learners can succeed.”
Someone should tell her that lying to five and six-year-olds will not help them succeed.
If this District had a vision of educating its students by truly loving them and speaking the truth to them, a “safe, nurturing, and supportive learning environment” would be the natural result.
Taking hold of the Superintendent’s words, the headline in USA Today read: “Afraid to go to school: Michigan school cancels pronoun lesson after online onslaught.”
If USA Today had any credibility, the headline would have read: “Angry parents say NO to indoctrination masquerading as education!”
The Dean’s List with Dean Bowen on America Out Loud Talk Radio can be heard on weekdays at 2 pm ET. Listen on iHeart Radio, our world-class media player, or our free Apple, Android, or Alexa apps. Listen to all the episodes of The Dean’s List, available on podcast.
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