Pleasantdale Administrators Show Their True Colors

Once upon a time there was a school district named Pleasantdale with a mission statement that read "Ensure that each student is a passionate learner empowered with the academic and social skills to responsibly choose and excel in life pursuits."

Of course the Pleasantdale administration and school board don't really follow that statement, they just like to talk about it, and point to it, and proclaim that they "don't do anything unless it is supported by the mission."

Recently, several students contacted us about the lack of construction paper at the middle school. Apparently creativity is not supported by the mission. 

Through several weeks of investigating, we learned that construction paper hadn't been ordered for the middle school students in quite a while and the only colors that were left at the middle school were a few sheets of brown and black. 

We also learned that a certain principal said the students should not be using construction paper because it took away from learning reading and math. 

Is it wrong to be passionate about the arts? What happened to empowering kids who enjoy being creative? Are their life pursuits any less important? Does the mission statement not apply to them? 

After hearing about the sad state of affairs for students that are passionate about being an artistic or creative learner, some people decided to help out. 

Thanks to the Barker, Camba and Gilman families as well as some anonymous donors, the middle school teacher's workroom was recently stocked with 64 reams of construction paper in various sizes and colors along with a note that read:

Dear Pleasantdale Middle School Teachers,

Thank you so much for a great start to the school year!  We appreciate your devotion to our children.  Please accept this donation of construction paper, as we heard there is a need for it at school.  We hope that this, in a small way, can help ensure that each student is a passionate learner and can excel in their life pursuits!

Thank you for all you do!

Sincerely,

The Barker Family, The Camba Family,

The Gilman Family

Now you would think that the principal would say something like, "Wow! How nice of them to think of our teachers and students!" or "That was thoughtful!" or even a simple, "Thanks so much!"

But no. 

Rather than acknowledging these parents, the building administrators removed the note and the paper. Yup, it's gone. They took it away.

The saddest thing is that this doesn't hurt the teachers and this doesn't hurt the generous donors. It hurts the kids.

What's also sad is that in the last election you heard several board members proclaiming to "Stay True to the Mission!" What mission were they talking about? Or maybe we should ask, who's mission?

Pleasantdale's administration is certainly not staying true to the mission of empowering students that are passionate and enjoy being creative and artistic. They are only staying true to the mission of mean spirited administrators, and they all should be ashamed of themselves.