Augusta County schools shut down.

[HvilleHokie]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

[BG Hokie]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

WAR the Shenandoah Valley!

[133743Hokie]

The teacher asked the Christians and Jews in class to break one of the Ten Commandments.
My God can be a jealous God.

I would have been unglued if this had happened w/ one of my kids.

Is she intentionally indoctrinating the kids? No. I dont think so.
Is the teacher an idiot for making this an assignment? Yeah. Absolutely.

Maybe I'd be offended as a Christian dad. I'd absolutely be offended as a taxpayer.

She asked them to write a string of Arabic characters without telling them the translation. It was a graphical, calligraphy exercise.

[absolutvt03]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

Just checked out that woman's Facebook... whole lotta crazy going on there.

Edit: Someone pointed out that the book the lesson was taken from is the one linked below:

http://www.christianbookstore.net/world ... og-526529/

Kind of amusing that you can buy it from a Christian bookstore.

[BG Hokie]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

Just checked out that woman's Facebook... whole lotta crazy going on there.

I'll play, what's her name?

[absolutvt03]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

Just checked out that woman's Facebook... whole lotta crazy going on there.

I'll play, what's her name?

https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.herndon.1

[CWHOKIECPA]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

I don't. We don't need to teach anything about religion in public schools. Do you have any idea of what the lesson she is working towards is?

[awesome guy]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

Just checked out that woman's Facebook... whole lotta crazy going on there.

Edit: Someone pointed out that the book the lesson was taken from is the one linked below:

http://www.christianbookstore.net/world ... og-526529/

Kind of amusing that you can buy it from a Christian bookstore.

huh? What's crazy on her site?

[awesome guy]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

I don't. We don't need to teach anything about religion in public schools. Do you have any idea of what the lesson she is working towards is?

The administrators closing the school without any threats or a good reason indicates they aren't the good guys. Seems like a gimmick to discredit the people upset. All they had to do was remove the statement of faith from the curriculum and problem solved. They seem to be escalating something that's pretty simple to solve.

[RiverguyVT]

I can easily teach a lesson to inform children what islam is, what Christianity is, what whirling dirvishes are....without making the students do something that: a) endorses any of those faiths; nor, b) is prohibited by their own.

[BG Hokie]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

I don't. We don't need to teach anything about religion in public schools. Do you have any idea of what the lesson she is working towards is?

The administrators closing the school without any threats or a good reason indicates they aren't the good guys. Seems like a gimmick to discredit the people upset. All they had to do was remove the statement of faith from the curriculum and problem solved. They seem to be escalating something that's pretty simple to solve.

Pretty simple to solve? Agree. They agreed that the lesson had no place in the curriculum and that they'd reprimand the teacher but they would so privately as it was a personnel matter. That's a solution IMO. But that's not good enough for the PC facebook lynch mob, they want the teacher's head.

[BG Hokie]

I can easily teach a lesson to inform children what islam is, what Christianity is, what whirling dirvishes are....without making the students do something that: a) endorses any of those faiths; nor, b) is prohibited by their own.

Agreed, but the facebook mob needs the woman fired or else!

It's funny how much I've seen this site discuss the PCism associated with social media blunders and social media's vengeance on not quitting until the person is fired. It's interesting to see people on the other side in this case.

Double standards abound...

[HokieFanDC]

I can easily teach a lesson to inform children what islam is, what Christianity is, what whirling dirvishes are....without making the students do something that: a) endorses any of those faiths; nor, b) is prohibited by their own.

Since you keep bringing it up, what do you think is prohibited. I'm assuming you are talking about having no Gods before me.
If so, the context around that is people worshiping foreign gods, idols, and material goods. The key term being worshipping. I'm pretty sure my God understands that doing a homework assignment is not equal to worshipping, or taking, another God as your own god.

How do you see this differently?

[awesome guy]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

I don't. We don't need to teach anything about religion in public schools. Do you have any idea of what the lesson she is working towards is?

The administrators closing the school without any threats or a good reason indicates they aren't the good guys. Seems like a gimmick to discredit the people upset. All they had to do was remove the statement of faith from the curriculum and problem solved. They seem to be escalating something that's pretty simple to solve.

Pretty simple to solve? Agree. They agreed that the lesson had no place in the curriculum and that they'd reprimand the teacher but they would so privately as it was a personnel matter. That's a solution IMO. But that's not good enough for the PC facebook lynch mob, they want the teacher's head.

I don't think that's a fair characterization. Seems like the school refused to even hear them and they had a difficult time even getting their attention. So the school created conflict right out of the gate by being aloof and dismissive. But I don't know the details and haven't paid attention to this till today. Just from what I've read, the unreasonableness appears from the school board. I don't know if the parents are out for blood against the teacher. I've seen them call out the school board for not knowing what's in the curriculum and I think that's also a fair point. I just haven't seen crazy stuff where the want the teacher fired or whatever. The whole thing seems way over dramatic.

[BG Hokie]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

Just checked out that woman's Facebook... whole lotta crazy going on there.

Edit: Someone pointed out that the book the lesson was taken from is the one linked below:

http://www.christianbookstore.net/world ... og-526529/

Kind of amusing that you can buy it from a Christian bookstore.

huh? What's crazy on her site?

This woman must stop planting the seeds of Satan in our children!

That's crazy, it just is...

[absolutvt03]

huh? What's crazy on her site?

The long winded rants with no spacing or paragraphs? The spelling/grammar/syntax? The references to Satan trying to entice her, trying to take her children? The talk of not sleeping or eating for 4 days because of this? Asking for Nancy Grace's number? The unwillingness to let it go now that it's been addressed and insisting on going after the teacher?

I mean I can keep going...

[BG Hokie]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

I don't. We don't need to teach anything about religion in public schools. Do you have any idea of what the lesson she is working towards is?

The administrators closing the school without any threats or a good reason indicates they aren't the good guys. Seems like a gimmick to discredit the people upset. All they had to do was remove the statement of faith from the curriculum and problem solved. They seem to be escalating something that's pretty simple to solve.

Pretty simple to solve? Agree. They agreed that the lesson had no place in the curriculum and that they'd reprimand the teacher but they would so privately as it was a personnel matter. That's a solution IMO. But that's not good enough for the PC facebook lynch mob, they want the teacher's head.

I don't think that's a fair characterization. Seems like the school refused to even hear them and they had a difficult time even getting their attention. So the school created conflict right out of the gate by being aloof and dismissive. But I don't know the details and haven't paid attention to this till today. Just from what I've read, the unreasonableness appears from the school board. I don't know if the parents are out for blood against the teacher. I've seen them call out the school board for not knowing what's in the curriculum and I think that's also a fair point. I just haven't seen crazy stuff where the want the teacher fired or whatever. The whole thing seems way over dramatic.

Yeah shocker, administrators attempt to blow off overzealous crazy woman who gives them problems. News at 11.

Sure, they probably dismissed her out of the gates and then realized it was blowing up and dealt with it.

I'm reading her crazy facebook page. That's where the mob is demanding more. This won't end until they fire her IMO. I hope she gets reprimanded as she would have had this thing not gone viral, which is most likely to say something short of being fired.

[absolutvt03]

I don't think that's a fair characterization. Seems like the school refused to even hear them and they had a difficult time even getting their attention. So the school created conflict right out of the gate by being aloof and dismissive. But I don't know the details and haven't paid attention to this till today. Just from what I've read, the unreasonableness appears from the school board. I don't know if the parents are out for blood against the teacher. I've seen them call out the school board for not knowing what's in the curriculum and I think that's also a fair point. I just haven't seen crazy stuff where the want the teacher fired or whatever. The whole thing seems way over dramatic.

There's a giant long post of "facts" where the mother recounts her meeting with the teacher and administrators where she occasionally throws in her opinion (such as the teacher left the meeting in a hurry to destroy evidence). If anyone's being dramatic, it's her.

[awesome guy]

I'm a graduate of riverheads and the teacher in question lives next door to my parents. She coaches the cheerleading team at riverheads and has been a strong member of the community and school for years.

I'm sure she wishes she had not used the workbook with this particular phrase, but it was one that is partnered with the sol lesson that she was working towards.

The mother has a vendetta is looking for attention. Her Facebook page is full of glee at the attention she is receiving. When she approached the school, they dismissed her because she is a known crazy.

I support Laporte and the Augusta county schools standing by her.

Just checked out that woman's Facebook... whole lotta crazy going on there.

Edit: Someone pointed out that the book the lesson was taken from is the one linked below:

http://www.christianbookstore.net/world ... og-526529/

Kind of amusing that you can buy it from a Christian bookstore.

huh? What's crazy on her site?

This woman must stop planting the seeds of Satan in our children!

That's crazy, it just is...

I of course disagree. And they'll be no agreement because it'll boil down just to faith. But from her standpoint, her kids are being told to recite an article of faith from Islam. I'm sure we agree the school shouldn't have done that. She may be hyperbolic in her statement, but it's not crazy. Most everything else on her page seems thought out and reasonable.

[RiverguyVT]

I can easily teach a lesson to inform children what islam is, what Christianity is, what whirling dirvishes are....without making the students do something that: a) endorses any of those faiths; nor, b) is prohibited by their own.

Since you keep bringing it up, what do you think is prohibited. I'm assuming you are talking about having no Gods before me.
If so, the context around that is people worshiping foreign gods, idols, and material goods. The key term being worshipping. I'm pretty sure my God understands that doing a homework assignment is not equal to worshipping, or taking, another God as your own god.

How do you see this differently?

This isn't about what you think God thinks. The passage is a declarative.
It is a blasphemy for Christians. There is no reason they would have to write that out to study what islam is, any more than they should write out "Jesus, Son of God, please come into my heart. I take you as my Lord and Savior and ask You to bear my sins..." when studying/learning about Christianity (which would offend Jewish or islamic students. Right?)

Taking the Lord's name in vain comes to mind foremost....dealing with God and speaking of God in a way that empties Him of His significance. That's a sin. Period.

[USN_Hokie]

My attitude is if we're so weak in our assessment of our youth that we think that transcribing Arabic Calligraphy will somehow lead them to joining the ranks of Sunni or Shia Islam, all go on hadj to Mecca and become part of a global jihad then it is the collective we that have failed.

Of course we're that weak. We live in a world where people think a Christmas tree is a government establishment of religion.

In a rational world, everything you said makes sense. Unfortunately, we don't live in a rational world.

[HokieFanDC]

I can easily teach a lesson to inform children what islam is, what Christianity is, what whirling dirvishes are....without making the students do something that: a) endorses any of those faiths; nor, b) is prohibited by their own.

Since you keep bringing it up, what do you think is prohibited. I'm assuming you are talking about having no Gods before me.
If so, the context around that is people worshiping foreign gods, idols, and material goods. The key term being worshipping. I'm pretty sure my God understands that doing a homework assignment is not equal to worshipping, or taking, another God as your own god.

How do you see this differently?

This isn't about what you think God thinks. The passage is a declarative.
It is a blasphemy for Christians. There is no reason they would have to write that out to study what islam is, any more than they should write out "Jesus, Son of God, please come into my heart. I take you as my Lord and Savior and ask You to bear my sins..." when studying/learning about Christianity (which would offend Jewish or islamic students. Right?)

Taking the Lord's name in vain comes to mind foremost....dealing with God and speaking of God in a way that empties Him of His significance. That's a sin. Period.

Everything regarding Christianity is about what an individual thinks God thinks, with regard to their life.
To me, writing that sentence, in a language I don't know, isn't a declarative sentence, because I'm not actually declaring anything. It was a terrible phrase for them to use, and I suspect it wasn't just a "mistake", but it doesn't offend me to the degree that it did a few of the people of Augusa County.
Of course, everyone is welcome to their opinion.

[awesome guy]

I can easily teach a lesson to inform children what islam is, what Christianity is, what whirling dirvishes are....without making the students do something that: a) endorses any of those faiths; nor, b) is prohibited by their own.

Since you keep bringing it up, what do you think is prohibited. I'm assuming you are talking about having no Gods before me.
If so, the context around that is people worshiping foreign gods, idols, and material goods. The key term being worshipping. I'm pretty sure my God understands that doing a homework assignment is not equal to worshipping, or taking, another God as your own god.

How do you see this differently?

This isn't about what you think God thinks. The passage is a declarative.
It is a blasphemy for Christians. There is no reason they would have to write that out to study what islam is, any more than they should write out "Jesus, Son of God, please come into my heart. I take you as my Lord and Savior and ask You to bear my sins..." when studying/learning about Christianity (which would offend Jewish or islamic students. Right?)

Taking the Lord's name in vain comes to mind foremost....dealing with God and speaking of God in a way that empties Him of His significance. That's a sin. Period.

Everything regarding Christianity is about what an individual thinks God thinks, with regard to their life.
To me, writing that sentence, in a language I don't know, isn't a declarative sentence, because I'm not actually declaring anything. It was a terrible phrase for them to use, and I suspect it wasn't just a "mistake", but it doesn't offend me to the degree that it did a few of the people of Augusa County.
Of course, everyone is welcome to their opinion.

That's the key to this issue. Faith is a personal matter. People can view writing an article faith differently than you or anyone else does. And that's why picking that passage was awful for the lesson, the school made the mistake.

[RiverguyVT]

I can easily teach a lesson to inform children what islam is, what Christianity is, what whirling dirvishes are....without making the students do something that: a) endorses any of those faiths; nor, b) is prohibited by their own.

Since you keep bringing it up, what do you think is prohibited. I'm assuming you are talking about having no Gods before me.
If so, the context around that is people worshiping foreign gods, idols, and material goods. The key term being worshipping. I'm pretty sure my God understands that doing a homework assignment is not equal to worshipping, or taking, another God as your own god.

How do you see this differently?

This isn't about what you think God thinks. The passage is a declarative.
It is a blasphemy for Christians. There is no reason they would have to write that out to study what islam is, any more than they should write out "Jesus, Son of God, please come into my heart. I take you as my Lord and Savior and ask You to bear my sins..." when studying/learning about Christianity (which would offend Jewish or islamic students. Right?)

Taking the Lord's name in vain comes to mind foremost....dealing with God and speaking of God in a way that empties Him of His significance. That's a sin. Period.

Everything regarding Christianity is about what an individual thinks God thinks, with regard to their life.
To me, writing that sentence, in a language I don't know, isn't a declarative sentence, because I'm not actually declaring anything. It was a terrible phrase for them to use, and I suspect it wasn't just a "mistake", but it doesn't offend me to the degree that it did a few of the people of Augusa County.
Of course, everyone is welcome to their opinion.

Everything regarding Christianity is about what an individual thinks God thinks, with regard to their life. - We could go into a whole new thread and stretch it out 20 pages on this topic alone, if we wanted. Let's agree that I just disagree.

If it is admittedly a terrible phrase to have used, then that means there's a reason not to have used it. Right? What's that reason?

Offense- If varying degrees of offense could be taken, or if there are varying opinions, the phrase shouldn't have been used. At least, that's where we are with so many things today (the "n" word; symbols; phrases like "illegal immigrant"; etc). What packs a punch here is that to many, the exercise is indeed a forced (coerced) blasphemy, and violation of a Commandment.

isn't a declarative sentence-I'm being a grammar nazi, I admit, but yeah. It is a declarative sentence. (<---just like that one is)

[absolutvt03]

If it is admittedly a terrible phrase to have used, then that means there's a reason not to have used it. Right? What's that reason?

You'd have to take that up with the makers of the lesson book. Looks like it's got a release date of 1995 so the person who was involved is probably no longer there. You can buy a copy for yourself at:

http://www.christianbookstore.net/world ... og-526529/