I was wondering, Mike, Teri and Marissa, is this the school Marissa and Anna go to? And have _you_ heard the name of the 12-year-old who did this? I find it incredibly naive to believe that, if he is an average 12 year-old, he "didn't really know what he was doing". Oh yes he did!
Yes, this is the school that our children attend. We're pretty shocked by it, and OTOH very happy that it wasn't one of our kids who did it. I personally don't know the name of the kid who did it, and wouldn't post here if I did. That's probably the last thing anyone needs right now. I'm curious, though, and meant to ask, but haven't had the chance.
Holly Academy stresses proper behavior on all field trips, and constantly reminds students and chaperones that they are representatives of their school both on and off premises. It is clearly a big issue at the school, as we heard about it from our kids before the story hit the news this morning. In fact, the first story I saw did not mention the school by name, and so I found out about it from Teri.
Holly Academy has worked very hard in their seven years of operation to keep a sterling reputation. The school after which they were patterned was rocked by scandal during the first year of HA's operation, and they worked hard to distance themselves from that mess. I think it helped establish a set of standards that to this point has served them well. I am very saddened by this turn of events, but I don't think any less of the school because of it.
Mike,
I don't want you to think that because this happened, I think that Holly Academy isn't a good school. This could happen to any school, anywhere! Kids are kids. While it's not good for the school and its reputation, if anyone takes this one incident and decided that this is a bad school - your probably better off without them there!
The one thing I will say, though, is that it shows that kids at charter schools are just like kids at "regular" public schools. One of the issues I have with Ryan's school (he goes to a charter school) is that so many of the parents have their kids going there because the "moral character" of the kids is supposed to be so much better. Not necessarily true! Again - kids are kids!! And while a charter school may be able to address moral character issues more strictly, I've seen them addressed at our "regular" public school as well!
Daisy
Agreed. Look at kids in parochial schools and you'll find similar diversity. One can hope that the parents of charter school kids can have higher moral character, and I think that for the most part that's true among Holly Academy parents, but I've seen some exceptions there, too.
R again, the spelling probaly gives me away. I just had to share an incedint we had once. After one of my children had a birthday party a few years ago I was picking something up off the floor and found a big wad of gum stuck to the underside of my kitchen table. The child was a bit younger then 12 but I can assure you that child knew exactly what they were doing!
I feel the need to come to Mrs. Kildee's defense here: The news articles quote her as saying "I don't think he understood the ramifications of what he did," which is a lot different than saying he didn' know what he was doing. Twelve year olds know a heck of a lot, and yeah, I have a hard time believing that he didn't know that he was doing something wrong. I can believe that he didn't think about all of the consequences, or possibly realize just how much trouble his actions would cause. I get the impression that, "he certainly understands the severity of it now."
Comments
Holly Academy
I was wondering, Mike, Teri and Marissa, is this the school Marissa and Anna go to? And have _you_ heard the name of the 12-year-old who did this? I find it incredibly naive to believe that, if he is an average 12 year-old, he "didn't really know what he was doing". Oh yes he did!
Daisy
I am afraid so...
Yes, this is the school that our children attend. We're pretty shocked by it, and OTOH very happy that it wasn't one of our kids who did it. I personally don't know the name of the kid who did it, and wouldn't post here if I did. That's probably the last thing anyone needs right now. I'm curious, though, and meant to ask, but haven't had the chance.
Holly Academy stresses proper behavior on all field trips, and constantly reminds students and chaperones that they are representatives of their school both on and off premises. It is clearly a big issue at the school, as we heard about it from our kids before the story hit the news this morning. In fact, the first story I saw did not mention the school by name, and so I found out about it from Teri.
Holly Academy has worked very hard in their seven years of operation to keep a sterling reputation. The school after which they were patterned was rocked by scandal during the first year of HA's operation, and they worked hard to distance themselves from that mess. I think it helped establish a set of standards that to this point has served them well. I am very saddened by this turn of events, but I don't think any less of the school because of it.
Holly Academy
Mike,
I don't want you to think that because this happened, I think that Holly Academy isn't a good school. This could happen to any school, anywhere! Kids are kids. While it's not good for the school and its reputation, if anyone takes this one incident and decided that this is a bad school - your probably better off without them there!
The one thing I will say, though, is that it shows that kids at charter schools are just like kids at "regular" public schools. One of the issues I have with Ryan's school (he goes to a charter school) is that so many of the parents have their kids going there because the "moral character" of the kids is supposed to be so much better. Not necessarily true! Again - kids are kids!! And while a charter school may be able to address moral character issues more strictly, I've seen them addressed at our "regular" public school as well!
Daisy
Moral Character
Agreed. Look at kids in parochial schools and you'll find similar diversity. One can hope that the parents of charter school kids can have higher moral character, and I think that for the most part that's true among Holly Academy parents, but I've seen some exceptions there, too.
The Bubble gum scandle
R again, the spelling probaly gives me away. I just had to share an incedint we had once. After one of my children had a birthday party a few years ago I was picking something up off the floor and found a big wad of gum stuck to the underside of my kitchen table. The child was a bit younger then 12 but I can assure you that child knew exactly what they were doing!
Ramifications
I feel the need to come to Mrs. Kildee's defense here: The news articles quote her as saying "I don't think he understood the ramifications of what he did," which is a lot different than saying he didn' know what he was doing. Twelve year olds know a heck of a lot, and yeah, I have a hard time believing that he didn't know that he was doing something wrong. I can believe that he didn't think about all of the consequences, or possibly realize just how much trouble his actions would cause. I get the impression that, "he certainly understands the severity of it now."
chewing gum art
He probably didn't realize that "ugly" (I saw it on the news, it's not my style of art) painting was worth $1.5 million.
Mandy
Decide for yourself
Helen Frankenthaler's 1963 abstract painting "The Bay", valued at $1.5M
BTW, Marissa knows this kid by reputation only. 'Nuff said, I guess.
painting
wow, i sparked a discussion!! and mom, you were on my account. lol.
yeah, that IS really ugly.