Walton Co. School Board Meets about Blithe Spirit!!

[manchellouch]

My thoughts,
I was tempted to put this as a rant but I didn’t’ want to have it on my page for that long. Yet it needs to be said, err… typed. I would like to complement everyone who voiced their opinions about the drama situation at the school. Whether you were for or against the production is irrelevant.

What I want to be sure to state clearly is, as a Christian I do not want this to turn anyone away from the church or cause you to judge someone’s devotion to Christ because of their stance on the subject. Paul writes (he’s a disciple of Christ who penned most of the new testament, for those of you who may not know) that each church and person are different members of the same body of Christ. Just as the foot cannot be the eye and the ear cannot be a tooth. The point of this is some churches teachings may be slightly different than yours, but take into consideration they are (and I assume because they claim to be Christian) in their own way proclaiming the Love of Christ. Please understand that you may not agree with their methods but their intentions are in the right place. DO not harbor a grudge or a judgmental spirit towards them.

On this same note if you were on the side of the churches at the meeting against the play do not harbor a grudge against those who believe differently than you. Instead find a way to show them Christ’s love and compassion. Through times like this we want to be sure and plant seeds of love and compassion so we can reap a harvest of hope.

Yes, I know some people may have made this personal and attacked the faculty or those associated with it with negative slander and rumors. Don’t feed into this by not forgiving them. Instead pray that they will have the conviction to see the error in their tactics.

And again, I’m proud of you students for keeping your cool and not taking or making this personal.

That’s it I’m out. That’s all I have to say. Case closed.

w/Christ
mL

 

[30A Skunkape]

bottom line the christian did prevail no matter what the vote was.....
the superintendent stated that the play will never be in any of her schools because of the language and content and the same thing was said by the principal of SoWal high school.
the main reason for this is copyright laws that prohibit them from changing any part of the script.
THUS, this play will never be seen on a stage at a walton county school but is will stay in the curriculum.
If you were at SoWal High tonight i hope you read the sign by the restrooms stating "Choices we make today, dictate the lives we lead."...just think about that.

They were actually making reference to scenes where the consumption of alcohol would be depicted as well as profanity. (I don't think anyone advocated anything other than alteration of these scenes.) They didn't object to mediums, ghosts and all that fanciful stuff that seemed to get the churches hot and bothered in the first place. I guess the outcome is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[DuneAHH]

Seems it was win-win...
The varying perspectives all seem to be finding some silver lining

 

[questor]

There is one thing one must understand about Mark Ewing.

The man is usually quite alright with the majority of things that his students do, so long as none of it is completely horrid.

However, when he is put on the spot, as to choosing between one thing or the other, one belief or the other, he'll talk in circles without answering the questions until people just walk away out of annoyance.

He actually made one of the board members roll his eyes at the lengthiness and lack of direction of one of his answers.

In my opinion, the whole thing was quite comedic.

At times, I wish that our system was more reminiscent of Fort Walton Beach High School's where they are allowed to display their creativity with the support of the outlying community. As previously stated, they were allowed to put on To Kill a Mockingbird, albeit with great difficulty, but after all that they went through, they were still capable of doing the play.

Unfortunately, we in SoWal High School do not have that privilege of going on about doing classical or just comedic plays (such as Yours Mine and Ourspace) without being censored and opposed at every other turn.

At the end of the day, it isn't about one religion winning out over evil heathens, or vise-versa, it is about societies tolerance the uncensored expression of creativity that both the writers of the plays, and the actors in said plays, unquestionably deserve.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! Mark Ewing is a PRIME example of what is WRONG with the people running our school system! Nothing but a "weather-vane". His motto ought to be "I'm Leaning which ever way the wind blows". To be more specific he originally APPROVED BOTH of the canceled plays. Until he had "second thoughts" put into his ear.

And be honest! If it were NOT for previous Supreme Court rulings to the contrary the vote VERY WELL might have gone the other way.

To all the students on this board, LISTEN UP! This is NOT the kind of leadership YOU want to bring to the next generation!

 

[Jdarg]

Aye yi yi- we are beat.

First of all- my 6 year old daughter sat through 2 1/2 hours of school board meeting. WOw.

I am so proud of these kids!!

Dune-ah got the synopsis correct. However, people "in the know" (theater people) all agree that we will never hear anything from Noel Coward's estate regarding the copywright- because they really don't care about changes made to the play. As bdarg just told me, anybody that flubs their lines has changed the play from the way it was written and violated copywright. it is kind of a 'don't ask don't tell". It's the way theater rolls.

We had to endure a full 30 minutes of people telling the school board to read Biblical scripture to make their decision. This was really scary.

Even scarier? The number of parents who yelled out in protest of Halloween.

And scarier still- overheard by another SoWaller because she was sitting behind these people "Honey, why are we here?" Husband- "Because our minister told us to come". They didn't have a clue, but were told to show up, and like sheep, they shuffled in.

We had a some tears (very theatrical- especially by a youth minister who was pathetic and sad.)

In the end Mark Davis, the Board of Ed chairman, spoke about when he grew up, religion was not worn on a sleeve, and as an English major, had read the play several times and found no issue with it. Thanks to Mr. Davis- he is intelligent and has a lot of common sense.

So the vote 3 Ayes- Mark Davis, William Laird, and one of the 2 women (the African American lady, but I didn't catch her name).

The Nays? Our own Darrell Barnhill, who was one of the most unimpressive elected officials I have ever run across- his command of the English language was impressive (I am being sarcastic), and the other woman who clearly was all about chucking the play when she arrived. We discounted her immediately just from her pursed lips.

Many many thank yous to all of you- tonight, Skunky, Kevin from the Seaside Rep, Shallowsnole, Kase, and a few others really went out on a limb and made great speeches. I love you guys- you did important work tonight.

And Dune-ah, Rapunzel, Grayton Girl, Questor, and many others were there in support-

Unfortunately, our principal, Mark Ewing, has stated that he can't allow the play to be performed without changes ("sanitizing"), which means we won't be doing the play at SoWal High. That's OK- we have other and better plans. Stay tuned.;-)

Oh, Hi Truethespian! Funny, your camp didn't look so happy tonight! And it is true that the "Choices you make today dictate the lives we lead". I think you may need to reevaluate, pal.

 

[truethespian09]

personally it was a win-win situation for both sides...
1) it will stay in the curriculum and in the schools
2) but it will never be performed in a walton county school

 

[truethespian09]

i dont think i need to reevaluate that statement, i think the administration and the ones for blithe spirit need to...but hey each side did win in a way but you know the battle is not over so just get over it jdarg our time will come

 

[Darg Vader]

A big thank you to my fellow classmates and actors who stood up for SWHS Drama. In the end common sense and intelligence won the day.


"But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we'll not fail."

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 7

 

[Jdarg]

personally it was a win-win situation for both sides...
1) it will stay in the curriculum and in the schools
2) but it will never be performed in a walton county school

really?

 

[questor]

Methinks Truethespian went to a different meeting than we attended. All we have to do now is get rid of the principal and administrator and THEN SWHS can move into the 21st century!