Tuesday, September 10, 2002

A Day that Will Live in Infamy

No, I'm not referring to the upcoming anniversary of Sept. 11. No, the AP Chem class didn't burn down Historic Downtown Evansville with a thermite reaction gone awry. Today was the first day that Ms. Snyder exercised her principal powers to restrict Signature students' freedoms...as a result of continuing student irresponsibility and disrespect toward teachers, effective tomorrow the Commons area will be closed (no more Code Red for George!), and the threat of the termination of open-campus lunch looms. No doubt some students, unfamiliar with Ms. Snyder's general leniency, will think that she has overreacted. I think her actions were perfectly justified.

The REAL infamy came from the students' unresponsiveness to Ms. Snyder's previous requests. There were numerous warnings that the Commons was going to be closed if students didn't clean up after themselves. Responsiblity on the Walkway and in restaurants was something Ms. Snyder stressed the very first day of school. Today, students eating at Emge's didn't listen to their teacher escort telling them it was time to head back to school. That is INSANE...what would make a SIGNATURE student disobey a teacher?? We have enough freedom as it is; why risk it for more (chaotic) freedom? I am surprised that action alone hasn't already driven Ms. Snyder to terminate open-campus lunch. If I were principal, I probably would have done just that.

As a note that really highlights how serious the problem was, the closing down of the Commons was an action endorsed by the Student Advisory Council. The responsible upperclassmen--who compose the vast majority of the SAC--were willing to sacrifice their own priviledges for the well-being of the school. The Commons problem has become that large. Although Ms. Snyder does a great reenactment of Pearl Harbor, today it was the new students who bombed us by disrepecting the principal and teachers.

This is the most important day/issue in Signature School's first year as a charter school. All other issues pale in juxtaposition--go ahead and adopt the Signature Dragons, I don't care anymore. Even if Sig School has superb SAT and AP scores, or Amy and Nirav win Nationals in policy debate, no day will overshadow this day that will live in infamy.

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