Mo. Drama Teacher Resigns in Play Flap

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060318/D8GE1GLO8.html ^

[Lunatic Fringe]

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - A central Missouri high school drama teacher whose spring play was canceled after complaints about tawdry content in one of her previous productions will resign rather than face a possible firing.

"It became too much to not be able to speak my mind or defend my students without fear or retribution," said Fulton High School teacher Wendy DeVore.

DeVore's students were to perform Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," a drama set during the 17th Century Salem witch trials.

But after a handful of Callaway Christian Church members complained about scenes in the fall musical "Grease" that showed teens smoking, drinking and kissing, Superintendent Mark Enderle told DeVore to find a more family-friendly substitute.

DeVore chose Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," a classic romantic comedy with its own dicey subject matter, including suicide, rape and losing one's virginity.

DeVore, 31, a six-year veteran teacher, said administrators told her that her annual contract might not be renewed.

"Maybe I need to find a school that's a better match," she said.

Both Enderle and the high school principal declined to discuss DeVore's resignation, citing privacy concerns. The resignation must still be approved by the school board.

Publicity over the drama debate, including a front-page story in The New York Times, has cast an unflattering light on Fulton as an intolerant small town, several of DeVore's colleagues said.

"We have become a laughingstock," teacher Paula Fessler told The Fulton Sun.

[paul51]

But after a handful of Callaway Christian Church members complained about scenes in the fall musical "Grease" that showed teens smoking, drinking and kissing,

I'm sure they are going to need psychotherapy following that trauma. Those church members sound more like the taliban

[Hildy]

Excuse me...but they're mad a high school put on the play GREASE? Give me a break...My high school class went to see the play on Broadway.. And The Crucible? You know how many High Schools do that play? This is just absurd.

[Freedom4US]

Small towns aren't as backward as people might think. After all, it's the NYT that is portraying a small town as backward.

It's all in the interpretation. Believe me, the educational elites can find perversion in *anything*, and often do. A "good" teacher can force-feed any number of psychotic interpretations of classic literature. Not sure if that's the case here, but still.

[lawnguy]

Was he in Footloose? :)

[punster]

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What a bunch of loons these parents must be to be raising the roof over Shakespeare and Arthur Miller. Even Grease is rather inoffensive crap.

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They sound almost as looney as Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church.

[wintertime]

Two wrongs don't make a right.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Well.....of course the solution is to begin the process of privatizing universal K-12 education.

[Melas]

Small towns aren't as backward as people might think.

You'll have a hard time convincing me of that. I moved to a tiny Texas town of just less than 900 people in 1994, and it was hell on earth. 6 years of misery. Then, I moved to nearby Jasper, Texas which is a whopping 8,000 or so, and it was only slightly less hellish. Moved to Dallas in 2003, and finally, the nightmare was over.

So, I'm the wrong person to sell the small town song and dance too. I lived it, hated it, left it.

[stands2reason]

It appears that you have already made your own conclusions about me. Think what you will.

I did not attack you personally. I have made no conclusions about you. I simply asked a question for further insight as to your opinion.

Do you think that the plays mentioned lead to Brokeback Mountain? You made that connection, now do you wish to retract it?

If you do not wish to debate, don't post in a political forum.

[Getready]

Not sure about guys and dolls...has gambling, kissing,
drunkenness, threats of violence, dancing nightclub
female performers, and a weak representation of the
historic evangelical Christian mission to U.S. people.

But the people of the town/church ARE allowed to complain about
being entertained with something that
they don't want to see. The teacher is forgetting
that being tolerant means respecting the beliefs of
everyone...(oh, unless they are people who you don't
agree with, right?)...
So final score(s) 1-10:

Small town social awareness index score: 3
Teacher originality: 4
Kids mind expansion: 3
Respect for "small-minded" community wishes: 0
Poor conflict resolution: 10

[Rastus]

He'll be remembered for three of those, anyway. And fortunately, the idiotic political point behind the Crucible will be completely forgotten.

[punster]

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"She chose "The Crucible" for the spring play."

Well, I'm a'thinkin' that she chose "The Crucible" because those overly-sanctimonius folks objected to "Grease."

"The Crucible" isn't all that kind to sanctimonious religious fanatics, as I remember. Sounds like she was planning to get a little dig in with that one.

Pity. It would have been an appropriate play for the witch hunters who whined about "Grease."

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That is an accurate assessement of the situation in the town. I thing the term "sanctimonious religious fanatics" fits those individuals that were doing the complaining. They are every bit as much a danger as the fanatics of the far left.

[stands2reason]

The teacher is forgetting that being tolerant means respecting the beliefs of everyone...(oh, unless they are people who you don't agree with, right?)...

So you're okay with "Wintertime" concerts where anything with the words "Christmas" "Lord" "Santa" and "Angel" are expunged from the program?

[MineralMan]

"And fortunately, the idiotic political point behind the Crucible will be completely forgotten.
"

I certainly hope not. As we see from this whole episode, witch-hunting is still with us. Seems to me that "The Crucible" is as pertinent as ever.

What a pity that this school lost a clever, creative drama teacher. I suppose Miss Grundy will be selected for the job in the future.

And Arthur Miller? Oh, his plays will continue to be produced, long after the congregation of the church in that town is dead and gone. Perhaps that's the best part of the story.

[punster]

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This is a public school, and for each of these bible-thumping shrills, I'm sure there were 10 residents of the community that held the opposite view.

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There are a large number of conservatives, who do not share the views of the bible-thumping shrils (sactimonious religious fanatics).

[Pappy Smear]

My senior year of high school in 1984 we did "Mr. Hobbs Vacation" (There is a movie with a similar title staring Jimmy Stewart circa early 60s, with Maureen O'hara (she has got to be one of the most beautiful actresses of all time, if I can start digressing)).

I got to be a drunken neighbor, and my yearbook has a picture of me, standing on a table holding a bottle of Jack Daniels (filled with Pepsi).

Ah the times have changed......

And while I'm thinking about it, let's put up a pic....

[Rastus]

The play was directly written to address the supposed McCarthy witch hunts. That political point will not be made over time and is not now recognized by the general public. Good thing, since Miller was dead wrong.

[The Westerner]

"Yeah, mustn't expose high schoolers to subjects like smoking, drinking and kissing.And authors like Arthur Miller and Shakespeare are totally inappropriate for teenagers. Better that they focus on wholesome things like cable TV and slasher movies."

You said it! As if these kids aren't smoking, drinking, kissing and watching T.V. This is the coming fundamentalist revolution in the heartland.

[MineralMan]

"The teacher is forgetting
that being tolerant means respecting the beliefs of
everyone"

I see. So, the Christmas concert is right out, then. I mean, even in a small Missouri town, there could be a Jewish family or two, and maybe a few agnostics and even an atheist.

If they object to the school superintendent, then that'll be the end of "Silent Night."

There is no right not to be exposed to ideas with which you disagree in this country. Sorry. Both sides are wrong when they try to eliminate that with which they do not agree.

None of the plays mentioned are patently offensive. Perhaps a few people didn't like them. Well, a few people don't like Christmas Carols, too. We cannot rail against those who would eliminate Christmas and then support those who rail against kissing in a school play.

That, my ever-ready friend, is hypocrisy, pure and simple. I'm an atheist, and I don't believe in the Christian religion. I would never, though, object to a school production where Christmas Carols were sung, or even a public school production of Handel's "Messiah." My disbelief does not trump the beliefs of others.

I do not have the right not to be exposed to beliefs that are other than my own. Neither does a small group of people who have a particular religious objection to some harmless and frequently-produced school play have the right to coerce the school into dropping it.

This is the United States of America, not Afghanistan. If folks don't like the play because it has things like kissing and smoking, then they should not attend. It's that simple.

Phooey on these folks. Miss DeVore will, no doubt, be better off in a new place. The town, though, will have lost something it may never be able to replace. Too bad.

[punster]

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The bottom line is that a few sanctmonious prisses managed to dictate to this school. That's not how it works in this country. The few do not dictate to the many.

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That is, unfortunately, what happens on a lot of issues. My own inclination, when encountering the like, is to find all the evidence that contradicts their bigotry, and cram it down their throats, all the while ignoring their existence.

[SaveTheChief]

I made no such connection between Grease, Shakespeare and Brokeback Mountain. That was your assumption. In fact, I made no mention of Shakespeare or Grease.

I attempted to point out that school children are not the proper forum for the display of adult themes.

The teacher should not have continued to push the limits of small Midwestern town values and expectations if she wanted to stay out of trouble, especially when there had already been some controversy and she was instructed by her superintendent to find material more suitable to families. And her very own comment suggests that none of the controversy is her fault at all, but just simply that those values "don't fit" her.

Since when do high school students need to smoke and drink on stage to be authentic for Grease? Are rape and suicide appropriate subject matter for a high school play?

All of this sounds just like liberal arrogance. They know more than we do about how to raise our own families. They know more than we do about how we live our own lives, if we can own a firearm, if we can smoke, if we can mention the name of our Lord and Savior in public places.

I hope this settles your confusion.