Update and Plans

For anyone who is not aware there was supposed to be a sit-in organized for 4th period on Friday, April 29. At about 10:00 AM on Friday, just before the sit-in was to occur, I spoke over the intercom and asked anyone who was planning to go to it to please stay in class. A lot of people said it was the right thing to do, a few said I was a "Traitor" to the cause, but not many seem to know what made me change my mind only a few minutes before the sit-in was to occur. I'm posting this to explain what transpired behind the scenes to anyone who is unaware. Near the end of 1st period on Friday, I was brought down to the office by our principle, Scott Nelson. Another student who made me aware of the sit-in, Spencer Forrest, was also brought down to the office. Mr. Nelson proceeded to talk to us about what we were planning to do, the sit-in, and asked what we wanted to show or achieve with this sit-in. Spencer and I both responded with "To demonstrate that we are opposed to the idea of furloughing teachers and we are steadfast in our cause". Mr. Nelson then told us that he would not, and could not, stop us from doing this sit-in, however he stumped both me and Spencer when he said "Say this sit-in does happen, and I go in the gym and ask all of you 'What do you want me to do?'" When he said that, we both couldn't really come up with a legitimate response, aside from " To keep all of our teachers", to which he responded "Well you demonstrated that last night at the meeting". Once he realized that we had no compelling response, he then told us that doing the sit-in would "Ruin our validity in the eyes of the board" and that there were much more productive ways of convincing the board. Upon hearing these things, we were convinced that we had moved a big step forward in our plight, seeing that we had caught this much attention. Mr. McCowin and I then addressed the student body before the sit-in could start. Spencer Forrest and I, as well as a few other students, spent a large remainder of the day speaking with Mr. Nelson as to how we were going to proceed. What we settled on first involves figuring out what the student body and the community wants to know. Therefore, we are asking you to think of anything you might want to ask the school board members in a face to face meeting. If you're a student, people will be walking around homerooms on Monday to collect questions. If you don't want to do that and or you are not a student, simply write a comment on this update with your question, and we will attempt to address it at the meeting. Once we know what the community and the student body wants, a select group of students will be having a meeting with the school board members to discuss if/ how we can solve the school's problems and, of course, address the questions that we collected. Thank you for your continued support.