by An Idaho school district banned ten books, including a graphic novel edition of Margaret Atwood’s book, A Handmaid’s Tale, because book banning is all the rage.
A graduating honors student in the censorious school district attempted to hand the Superintendent of Schools a copy of the book as a gift in a generous trade for her diploma. The young woman has been heavily involved in reading and the community’s libraries for many years. She was even recognized for her service to the library.
When the student attempted to hand the Superintendent the book, the humorless “educator” displayed zero grace, crossed his arms, and refused to accept the gift. So, the young lady placed the book at his feet.
But wait! There’s more!
The district spokeswoman had the chutzpah to pile on…
Trying to hand the superintendent a copy of the graphic novel, she added,“overshadowed the celebratory occasion for the Class of 2024, its graduates, and all their accomplishments as students, as a school, and as a district.”
“While we respect the right to voice concerns, it is important to maintain the focus on the achievements and hard work of our students during such significant milestones,” Scheppers wrote.
District spokeswoman
Oh, boo hoo! Saying, “thank you,” would have sufficed. Aren’t you glad they have a comms team?
I’m terribly sorry that Superintendent Derek Bub was unable to pursue his first three job preferences:
- Prison guard
- Dog trainer
- TSA screener
and had to settle for Superintendent of Schools.
Did I mention that this all happened at a performing arts magnet school? You can’t make this stuff up!
Whadaya wanna bet the school district has a deep commitment to “student voice?” 🙄
Veteran educator Gary Stager, Ph.D. is the author of Twenty Things to Do with a Computer – Forward 50, co-author of Invent To Learn — Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, publisher at Constructing Modern Knowledge Press, and the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. He led professional development in the world’s first 1:1 laptop schools thirty years ago and designed one of the oldest online graduate school programs. Gary is also the curator of The Seymour Papert archives at DailyPapert.com. Learn more about Gary here.
TSA Screener!
Well said, Gary.