Walton Co. School Board Meets about Blithe Spirit!!

[CircuitVulture]

I sincerely hope that parents, students, and community members will attend this meeting in support of the SWHS Drama Department. From what I hear, the opposing church will be bringing a hoard of followers in Thursday, in hopes of deterring the School Board's decision in their favor.

I am already upset that two of our proposed plays have been nixed and screwing up our entire schedule for this semester - we now have less than a month to put on "Harvey". This issue is extremely important to me since this is my senior year, and that it wasnt until last year, Mrs. Florko started a Drama Program instead of continuing mediocre acts we put on years before. This year, I was glad Mr. Goodrum finally strayed from the "kiddie themed" productions we did last year, but only to have them opposed by a group who had no association to the school whatsoever. The other drama students are equally upset that the protesters have all the power and control and we hope that the policy can be changed to prevent possible future protests from interfering with our productions unless said otherwise by the District School Board.

Also, Id like to thank the parents who have been involved with the issue so far, and that without your help we probably would be where we are now

Elysia Griffin
Proud SWHS dramaNERD

 

[Jdarg]

Circuitvulture! Thanks for posting- we are behind y'all 100%.

Kurt, could you please merge the 2 Blithe Spirit threads?

 

[Kase626]

Thanks for the warm welcomes.

Nice catch! Sorry about that. Let me try that one again...

The dates for Harvey are DECEMBER 6th, 7th, and 8th. Hope to see you all there.

 

[scooterbug44]

What great posts from the students!

Glad the school is still managing to turn out such great kids despite all the interference!

 

[Miss Kitty]

I am duly impressed with the writing skills and communication from these students. Hopefully they can teach the "adults" a thing or two.

 

[DuneAHH]

I am duly impressed with the writing skills and communication from these students. Hopefully they can teach the "adults" a thing or two.

DITTO THAT!
Is SWHS ART Dept. making protest signs???

 

[Jdarg]

Thanks for the warm welcomes.

Nice catch! Sorry about that. Let me try that one again...

The dates for Harvey are DECEMBER 6th, 7th, and 8th. Hope to see you all there.

We will be there- can't wait!!

Hey Kase- get some of the other students to post on here tonight- and if any SWHS students are lurking, let's hear from you!

 

[Jdarg]

I am duly impressed with the writing skills and communication from these students. Hopefully they can teach the "adults" a thing or two.

Yes Miss Kitty- this is a wonderful group of young adults. And as Kase said, some of them will be voting and eligible to go to Iraq next year.

They do not deserve to be treated like young children, nor have they asked for the interference.

 

[questor]

Re: Have questions about "Blithe Spirit"

I am a new member of SoWal.com, but I visit the site quite often. I came across this post, and couldn't resist replying.

I'm a senior at SoWal High, and a cast member of Blithe Spirit, Any Number Can Die, AND Harvey. I've seen the Drama department grow from nothing into an amazing program with great opportunities for students interested in theatre. Going into my senior year, I had nothing but high hopes. I was psyched about having Mr. Goodrum as our new drama teacher, because he is so experienced and has SO much to teach us. I was thrilled to hear the production choices (Blithe Spirit & Bye Bye Birdy) and couldn't wait for auditions. I was cast as Ruth, the living wife in Blithe Spirit, and rehearsals began. After our first practice, we received the very unfortunate news that our play was being challenged by a local church group. Of course, we were devastated, and couldn't understand why someone would find a farce like Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit offensive. Yeah, there are ghosts, so what? We all like Casper, don't we?

Unable to move on with Blithe Spirit, Mr. Goodrum decided to choose another play, because time was flying by, and a high school production takes time. So Any Number Can Die was chosen, and auditions were held. We finished a read-through of the entire play, and got through 1 day of blocking before we, once again, received awful news. We needed a back-up for our back-up.

After having this happen twice, a lot of our hope was lost and our moral was somewhat depressed. It seemed like we were being picked on, almost like it was becoming personal. (Hopefully, that's not the case.) Being a senior, I was angry, but more upset, that I might not get a chance to perform in my senior year. This feeling was shared throughout the cast, even with underclassmen. We're high schoolers. We have a crystal clear perception of what's reality and what's fiction. We know we can't fly via broomstick just because Harry Potter can. It's silly to try and hide issues such as alcoholism and rocky marriages from us, because we're not living under a rock. Some high schoolers face these issues in their own homes. Being sheltered from such issues doesn't help us to deal with them and overcome them. How can we distinguish right from wrong if we don't know what wrong is? Keep in mind that most, if not ALL, of the senior class will be voting in next year's presidential election. Do we really want those choosing our future leader to be ignorant? I just don't understand how eliminating a play is taking a step towards bettering the youth of America.

On a lighter note, we have been able to get through more than 2 rehearsals with the play Harvey, which seems like it's going to be the winner. Third time's a charm, I guess. Unfortunately, due to all of the appeals and cancellations, we only have a month to put on an entire production, from casting to curtain. It's been hectic, but I've never been more determined to go on with the show than I am now. They can take away our play, but they can't take away our "spirit."

On Thursday at 5pm, there will be a school board meeting open to the public about Blithe Spirit and a possible policy change concerning the complaint process in an attempt to make it more expeditious. Please come out to support us.

We've received SO much support from parents, fellow and former students, people in the community, and many more. I can't thank you guys enough for all the kind words of encouragement we've received. Now, more than ever, the show must go on. The dates for Harvey are Nov. 6, 7, and 8. I hope to see all of you sitting in the audience.

YOU are a VERY mature and well versed individual. I HOPE that all your classmates will also turn out to support this objective. I wish they each would take just a few minutes of their time to post here their own personal feelings about this. Since the unfortunate loss of the student petition for your cause, it would be REALLY great if we could have the sentiments of as many students as possible. This BBS is a great Forum for those opinions and could be easily accessed by as many as possible. This would STILL be in time to allow us to show the School that it is not about what the parents WANT, it is what the students DESERVE!
I look forward to welcoming you as one of our leaders of tomorrow. It is people of your era who will take up the reins of government and hopefully guide us through to a better future.

 

[questor]

I sincerely hope that parents, students, and community members will attend this meeting in support of the SWHS Drama Department. From what I hear, the opposing church will be bringing a hoard of followers in Thursday, in hopes of deterring the School Board's decision in their favor.

I am already upset that two of our proposed plays have been nixed and screwing up our entire schedule for this semester - we now have less than a month to put on "Harvey". This issue is extremely important to me since this is my senior year, and that it wasnt until last year, Mrs. Florko started a Drama Program instead of continuing mediocre acts we put on years before. This year, I was glad Mr. Goodrum finally strayed from the "kiddie themed" productions we did last year, but only to have them opposed by a group who had no association to the school whatsoever. The other drama students are equally upset that the protesters have all the power and control and we hope that the policy can be changed to prevent possible future protests from interfering with our productions unless said otherwise by the District School Board.

Also, Id like to thank the parents who have been involved with the issue so far, and that without your help we probably would be where we are now

Elysia Griffin
Proud SWHS dramaNERD

And it would be very lax of me NOT to congratulate my own daughter (CircuitVulture)for also going public with her views. I know that there are more, MANY more, students out there who are just as passionate and just as mature as these two. It is my hope that each and every one of them will post here so that we may use their comments to replace that lost petition.

This would actually be even better then simply signing on to a common statement. It would let the students show that they have a level of maturity that far surpasses the people who would shut them down and deny them the same intellectual variety that those protesters were accorded in their own time. As someone has already pointed out, this story, this play, are NOT new but rather a product of the 40's. It very possibly WAS performed in the same schools that taught the very people who would see it denied to the current generation.

I have seen some postings here with nothing but negatives about the children in today's school system. Let me tell you this: You BETTER hope that you are WRONG about them! Because they ARE your future leaders...NOW, for better or worse! Stopping this play will do NOTHING but show them how shallow minded the people of their parents' generation are. I won't mention any names but you know who you are.

Personally, I am a VERY proud father of two VERY talented children. If you want to post what you think about morals of the students in todays school system, speak for your OWN children....NOT FOR MINE! YOUR problems are NOT theirs!