What's it like to live in Winnetka?

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

I hope you're not too wizened to spell "Jewish" with a capital J or to tell the difference between a communitarian church and a Congregational Church.

I have NEVER heard anyone call the Congregational Church the "communitarian" church. "Congo"or "Congregational" is what its always called by people in Winnetka.

There are multiple synagonges in the Winnetka area. As well as the afforementioned community, there is a seasonal group that has services at NT as well as synagognes in Northfield and Wilmette.

[branch28]

I don't doubt it one bit, about the teachers and the poor schools. Are they protected by a union? If so, that's the problem right there. I believe that many of the teachers hate rich families. I also believe that teaching is attracting via groupthink and ideological nepotism, and it overrepresents the most liberal and oddball/dissatisfied members of our society. Look at this story, it's obvious what's going on. I feel sorry for parents today. Our country is failing. People hate the kids and want to harm them. American Beauty was a hateful film by Steven Spielberg that promoted: divorce, adultery, drug use, teen sexual abuse by adult male, underage teen sex, and showed an abusive father. It mocked openly the suburbia and families that live in places like Winnetka, Darien, Hinsdale, etc. through it's clever hate. And the "teachers" want to promote it, see below:

District 86 allows R-rated movies in classrooms
9/27/2012 11:28:00 AM
By Annemarie Mannion -Chicago Tribune

Portions of R-rated movies will continue to be shown in classes at Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central high schools despite some parents' and community members' outcry against them.
The Hinsdale Township High School District 86 school board voted Monday night not to suspend the showing of excerpts of such films as "Brokeback Mountain" and "American Beauty" in a film-as-literature class, and will not prevent any other R-rated films from being shown in other classes at the schools.

The board also decided not to conduct a review of how a curriculum, including such ancillary items as movies, is approved. The votes on both measures were 5-2, with board members Dianne Barrett and Richard Skoda favoring the suspension of the R-rated films until the proposed review of the district's policy on approving a curriculum could be completed.

During two hours of public comment on the issue, people for and against allowing R-rated movies to be shown in the schools expressed their views at the packed board meeting. The controversy over the movies, and how curriculum is approved, was sparked when Burr Ridge resident Victor Casini filed an objection earlier this month to having "Brokeback Mountain" and "American Beauty" in a film-as-literature class in which his 17-year-old son is enrolled at Hinsdale South in Darien. Casini has said he objects to the movies because of sexual, profane and violent content.

Casini's wife, Janet, told the board Monday the inclusion of R-rated movies in classes is like providing students with alcohol or drugs.

"It's no different to allow toxic material to feed the minds of students," she said.

Hinsdale Library Board of Trustees President Johanna Delaney, who lives in Hinsdale, disagreed. Because the school district requires parents to sign permission slips allowing their children to view the films in class, she said it is their responsibility to withhold permission.

"Have the courage to say 'no' to your child - no you may not watch those movies," she said.

Others, including several teachers and students who spoke for keeping the films, said removing them would amount to censorship and loss of academic freedom and would rob students of an educational experience. Parents who want to see the films removed said the movies are an assault on their morals and values and that there are a multitude of other more acceptable movies that would illustrate the same concepts or themes that the R-rated films were selected to demonstrate in the class.

"Are you telling me that of all the films made we couldn't find something less controversial?" asked one parent.

Because the district's technology policy prevents access to R-rated films on district computers, Skoda noted that he couldn't call up the film "American Beauty" on his laptop while in the board room Monday. He said the board is shirking its responsibility for curriculum approval by not signing off on all items used in classrooms, including films and summer reading lists.

"Serious mistakes were made. Poor judgment was used here. The school board needs to stand up and be responsible for the curriculum," Skoda said.

School Board President Dennis Brennan countered that Skoda voted in 2005 in favor of the current policy, which, according to Superintendent Nicholas Wahl, calls for a teacher to meet with the department head and principal to discuss and get approval for a proposed class and what material is to be included in it. In addition, Wahl said no R-rated films may be shown in a class unless the building principal gives permission, and that informed consent from parents is required for students to view any R-rated films.

Brennan said he has no objection to R-rated films being shown in class as long as parents give their informed consent.

When parents object to material, such as the movies, Wahl said, the district allows the student to complete an alternative assignment with no academic penalty.

Some parents complained the syllabus describing the film-as-literature class provided minimal information about the materials used in the class.

Board member Jennifer Planson said the district should provide more in-depth course information, including descriptions of texts and movies, and should get such information to parents earlier.

"A lot of this could have been avoided if the (information about) controversial movies and books is available for parents to see prior to registration," she said.

As Casini left the meeting Monday, he said he was disappointed "that procedure is taking over here."

He also contended that allowing a student to opt out of a particular assignment is not a good solution because the student will be isolated, judged, deprived of an educational experience, and it could foster conflict between a parent and child.

"That option undermines inclusivity," he said.

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by branch28

...People hate the kids and want to harm them. American Beauty was a hateful film by Steven Spielberg that promoted: divorce, adultery, drug use, teen sexual abuse by adult male, underage teen sex, and showed an abusive father.

That isn't really fair. Not all the adults who want to expose high school kids to the less attractive sides of life hate them and want to harm them. Perhaps they want to equip them for reality.

That said, I do think we're failing our kids in terms of teaching them the basics and equipping them with the knowledge they'll need as adults. Making 15-year-olds into leftist social critics is a poor substitute for teaching them history, geography, languages, sciences, music, art, and so forth.

Steven Spielberg had little to do with "American Beauty," which does have a thread of America-hating running through it. It was directed by Sam Mendes and produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, who secured funding from DreamWorks, the studio in which Spielberg is one of three principals.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by branch28

I don't doubt it one bit, about the teachers and the poor schools. Are they protected by a union? If so, that's the problem right there. I believe that many of the teachers hate rich families. I also believe that teaching is attracting via groupthink and ideological nepotism, and it overrepresents the most liberal and oddball/dissatisfied members of our society. Look at this story, it's obvious what's going on. I feel sorry for parents today. Our country is failing. People hate the kids and want to harm them. American Beauty was a hateful film by Steven Spielberg that promoted: divorce, adultery, drug use, teen sexual abuse by adult male, underage teen sex, and showed an abusive father. It mocked openly the suburbia and families that live in places like Winnetka, Darien, Hinsdale, etc. through it's clever hate. And the "teachers" want to promote it, see below:

Seriously, we are talking about high school, not elementary school and the class is film as literature. I do not think it was promoting the things you site above, but recording the fact that they happen. Why would you not want suburban teens to actually think about these things. The film, btw, is actually difficult to categorize. If you think that materialism and feeling trapped did not happen in suburbia, you have seriously not paid attention to how the world has changed because of these things. Certainly, the film does look down on middle america to an extent, but shouldn't high school kids look carefully at these values and decide for themselves whether or not they are good or bad?

I certainly don't think that teachers hate rich families although, I think that wealthy parents can make the teacher's job more difficult if they are more into grades than learning.

[chet everett]

The south campus of D86 is in Darien and largely serves familes from Darien, Willowbrook, and nearby portions of south west Burr Ridge. These areas are generally safe and family friendly but the level of acheivement for both parents and students is not on par with D86's Hinsdale Central.

It is pretty clear that these sort of controversies with elective class could have been avoided with a more well thought-out course outline delivered on a better timeline.