rants and raves...

With all due respect to the Board, Principal Burditt and President of the East TCA Ms. Terrazas,

We are utterly disgusted with the amount of trivial busyness and nonsensical expectations of the PTA and presumably some staff at the East campus. In the last two weeks, we have received the following requests: a green t-shirt for the 3rd graders in the Spring Concert, a red/white t-shirt for the 3rd grade Field Day to the tune of $8 (cash only) which requires a trip to the ATM and then a store to break the $20 bill with 5 children in tow, a royal blue t-shirt for 1st grade Field Day, a luncheon for the 3rd-5th teachers, a note sent home regarding Teacher Appreciation week with a daily task for the entire week (see below), a separate email requesting food for a teacher luncheon on Thursday May 6th, in addition to what we'll be doing each day as a class. This on the heels of two field trip volunteer forms and volunteer forms for two Field Days with requests for hundreds of filled water balloons, just for starters. Here's a taste of Mrs. Goble's 1st grade class expectations:

Mon.-Students are being asked to appreciate their teacher and tutor by making/buying cards for them.

Tue.-Students are being asked to bring a flower to school for their teacher and tutor.

Wed.-Students are being asked to bring a healthy snack to school for their teacher/tutor.

Thu.-TBA crafty idea to appreciate the art teacher, in addition to providing food for the teacher's separate luncheon.

Fri.-a small party, a luau possiblty. Snacks and volunteers needed.

(This is all being asked of us at East, while we juggle what has been going on with our 8th grader at North-a separate teacher's luncheon for the 8th grade teachers, the Dinner Dance volunteer/baking requests, and a request by a teacher to supply 100 post it notes by the very next day or they would be penalized.) This teacher later apologized for being so insensitive to families for her last minute request.

This insanity has to stop! I really thought that TCA took the core value of respecting family time seriously and after mothering 5 children and attending several different schools in Illinois and Colorado over the years, I can say TCA states this nicely on paper but does not walk the talk. There are lots of wonderful things going on at TCA and all these things require many parents to volunteer time and resources. But the frequency of these events is where the issue lies. I have never seen teachers so appreciated, and, at the same time, received so many employment opportunity emails for teacher openings! Is what we're doing creating the atmosphere we strive for, appreciating the individual teacher for their particular God given gifts they share with the children with whom they are entrusted or are these great big broad strokes for all to see? Are we sending our children a message of overindulgence and overconsumption delivered in a frenzy of activity by parents whose job is big enough and important enough just to be parents. I know that this was not the intentions of the founding families and I fear this school has gotten too large to manage within that original framework.

I can remember when taking flowers from the garden at home and wrapping them in tin foil was a heartfelt way of a child showing a child's appreciation for their teacher. Very Charlotte Mason like, indeed. This is an out of control machine at work and I cannot be the only parent taking issue with it. I recently overheard a woman talking about how she shoved a piece of paper under her daughter's nose the morning of, while she yelled "write something to appreciate your teacher". Her daughter cried and the retelling of this story ended in an eruption of laughter from a group of moms. I felt like crying myself at the thought of this poor child walking away from that particular TCA experience with nothing valuable learned. I know another mom who just this week had volunteered to make 35 chicken salad sandwiches for a teacher luncheon at North because no one else was volunteering. She has a terrible case of bronchitis and woke at 5 a.m. to get the sandwiches made and ended up with a broken ear drum later in the week. She complained how she just had so much going on with 4 kids in 4 different classes and said "no rest for the weary".

This "optional" system feels very much like big government and does not respect or really promote the family's right to appreciate as they see fit. The letter we received states that participation is optional. We can say no to all of this and not participate. But children are quite sharp, as you know. Might they feel as if they aren't keeping up or following along or fitting in if they don't participate? This whole approach is about the parents, not the children's outward expression of appreciation. Don't we know intrinsically how to appreciate someone in a healthy and authentic way? This system is not about the task of teaching our children those values whatsoever. This system does not take into consideration the financial resources that go into each of these added shopping trips and supplies. This system does not take into account the fact that as TCA parents, we have already dedicated much of our time to helping in the classrooms and commuting to possibly several different campuses daily. We thought we were getting something different, and, while there are many wonderful aspects of our school, it's just like any other school in most other regards. "More, more, more" in an already overconsuming culture, who's "busier, busier, busier" with people moving at a mind numbing pace in a school and a world where "keep it simple" is just a trendy catch phrase.