School fundraiser in poor taste
As a resident of Upper St. Clair, a community which is home to one of the nation’s finest public school systems in every respect, I have always felt comfortable that this elite district would not ever stoop to an endorsement of the degradation of our teachers through subjecting them to having pies thrown in their faces or being dropped into dunk tanks. Sadly, I was wrong.
A fundraiser for a wonderful cause occurred on March 21 at Fort Couch Middle School in which teachers were “pied” by winning students (“Playground Games,” Community News, March 28). Some consider this to be good, clean fun. It is in fact undignified, tacky and tasteless, fomenting the humiliation of the teacher and the district, and is something which undermines the respect a child is expected to have for authority figures in the world in which I live.
I have brought my concerns about this to the attention of Superintendent Dr. Patrick O’Toole. He is uncharacteristically mum. I have also expressed my view to a number of school board members. They, too, are unresponsive, which I have found to be the norm for them. Contacting them is to talk to the trees, as the wonderful Robert Goulet vocalized long ago. Dissent is not welcome.
As a student, I could not have imagined having the desire to throw a pie in a teacher’s face and could never have done it. I do not understand what type of family from this fine community would sanction the activity, to what type of person such a promotion is targeted. Is an event with no class what is necessary to attract contributions? It is obvious that those that devised this event consider dignity, decorum, good judgment and common sense to be overrated.
Oren M. Spiegler
Upper St. Clair