Cito Pelon
03-11-2006, 03:15 PM
. . . . wrapping themselves in the flag, or wrapping themselves in Jesus' words to further their own personal agendas:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4529857,00.html
[B]Teacher seeks new job after 'Faust' flap
Despite support, educator sees no future in Bennett[B]
March 10, 2006
Tresa Waggoner, the Bennett School District music teacher put on paid leave for showing a video clip of the opera Faust, said Thursday that she's looking for a new job.
Waggoner, placed on leave Jan. 30, said she called superintendent George Sauter on Thursday after a local newspaper reported that she would not be allowed to return to the classroom.
She said Sauter said she'd remain on paid leave. Sauter confirmed that, but declined further comment.
"I'm applying for other teaching positions in schools and colleges," said Waggoner, a vocalist with two Christian CDs. "Maybe I'll become a church music director."
The video clip, narrated by opera star Joan Sutherland, featured sock puppets singing in French from the 16th-century morality tale.
Several parents complained that the video, which Waggoner got from the school library, contained references to abortion and Satan worship.
During the Feb. 16 board meeting, more than 53 people appeared to support her returning to the classroom and six opposed it, Waggoner said.
"Dr. Sauter told me it would be too disruptive to let me teach again," she said.
"I've done nothing wrong," she said. "I told him I would have to pray for him so he could live with himself for doing something so wrong."
The parents who asked that Waggoner be fired declined comment.
Waggoner isn't the only casualty in the culture wars in Bennett, an Adams County town of 2,500. Mayor Karen Grossiant resigned in late February and said Waggoner's removal was the "last straw.
"Tresa Waggoner was the last in a very long line of very peculiar situations," said Grossiant, an administrator at Regis University.
"Bennett has a mean-spirited undertone. I'd had enough," she said.
When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built a meetinghouse in nearby Strasburg last year, there was a debate over whether Mormons were Christians, she said.
"The issue with Tresa Waggoner wasn't the opera, but that she had run the holiday pageant without Christmas songs," said Grossiant.
Waggoner said she taught the elementary school students a variety of songs for the winter concert, but didn't include the traditional Christian songs.
Cory Babi, the wife of school board member Mike Babi, called four days before the program and said there would be problems if there were no Christmas songs, said Waggoner.
"I told her we couldn't sing them because public schools didn't want to offend people of other religions, including Jewish people, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses," she said.
After Waggoner showed less than 12 minutes of the Faust videotape, Cory Babi said her daughter asked about abortion and suicide. Babi declined comment Thursday.
"The connection is transparent. They lied and said Faust is about abortion," said Waggoner. "The only thing I can do is expose this as the injustice that it is."
Faust: an old story
Faust, a legendary character in music and literature, dates back to a medieval morality tale of a deeply depressed man who sells his soul to the devil.
In all versions of the Faust story, the man obtains power and knowledge, but suffers dire and eternal consequences.
Early Christian teachers used the story to show the horrors that befall those who give in to the devil's temptations.Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4529857,00.html
[B]Teacher seeks new job after 'Faust' flap
Despite support, educator sees no future in Bennett[B]
March 10, 2006
Tresa Waggoner, the Bennett School District music teacher put on paid leave for showing a video clip of the opera Faust, said Thursday that she's looking for a new job.
Waggoner, placed on leave Jan. 30, said she called superintendent George Sauter on Thursday after a local newspaper reported that she would not be allowed to return to the classroom.
She said Sauter said she'd remain on paid leave. Sauter confirmed that, but declined further comment.
"I'm applying for other teaching positions in schools and colleges," said Waggoner, a vocalist with two Christian CDs. "Maybe I'll become a church music director."
The video clip, narrated by opera star Joan Sutherland, featured sock puppets singing in French from the 16th-century morality tale.
Several parents complained that the video, which Waggoner got from the school library, contained references to abortion and Satan worship.
During the Feb. 16 board meeting, more than 53 people appeared to support her returning to the classroom and six opposed it, Waggoner said.
"Dr. Sauter told me it would be too disruptive to let me teach again," she said.
"I've done nothing wrong," she said. "I told him I would have to pray for him so he could live with himself for doing something so wrong."
The parents who asked that Waggoner be fired declined comment.
Waggoner isn't the only casualty in the culture wars in Bennett, an Adams County town of 2,500. Mayor Karen Grossiant resigned in late February and said Waggoner's removal was the "last straw.
"Tresa Waggoner was the last in a very long line of very peculiar situations," said Grossiant, an administrator at Regis University.
"Bennett has a mean-spirited undertone. I'd had enough," she said.
When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built a meetinghouse in nearby Strasburg last year, there was a debate over whether Mormons were Christians, she said.
"The issue with Tresa Waggoner wasn't the opera, but that she had run the holiday pageant without Christmas songs," said Grossiant.
Waggoner said she taught the elementary school students a variety of songs for the winter concert, but didn't include the traditional Christian songs.
Cory Babi, the wife of school board member Mike Babi, called four days before the program and said there would be problems if there were no Christmas songs, said Waggoner.
"I told her we couldn't sing them because public schools didn't want to offend people of other religions, including Jewish people, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses," she said.
After Waggoner showed less than 12 minutes of the Faust videotape, Cory Babi said her daughter asked about abortion and suicide. Babi declined comment Thursday.
"The connection is transparent. They lied and said Faust is about abortion," said Waggoner. "The only thing I can do is expose this as the injustice that it is."
Faust: an old story
Faust, a legendary character in music and literature, dates back to a medieval morality tale of a deeply depressed man who sells his soul to the devil.
In all versions of the Faust story, the man obtains power and knowledge, but suffers dire and eternal consequences.
Early Christian teachers used the story to show the horrors that befall those who give in to the devil's temptations.Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica