Articles
What I Did Last Weekend
By Doc Pelletier (Faculty
Contributor)
Part I: “Just put ‘em in tutus
and have 'em twirl. The parents will love it.”
This was the advice my friend, Donna Cory, got from a friend of hers in the
dance world. “You’re the High-School Dance Teacher.” You don’t want to be doing
all this adventurous stuff (I cannot recall the exact words, but that was the
general idea).
As anyone who has seen one of PDG’s wonderful
performances knows, Miss Cory did not take this advice. The show I
saw Saturday was moving and painful and beautiful. It was not safe;
and it was not easy.
Rather than write a glowing review—Leo already
has done that—I want to use this powerful performance to remind us all that we
are at our best when we are not playing it safe or easy.
You, beloved students, achieve your best when
we, your teachers, forget whatever limits we think high-school students have
and just ask you to come along with us on the journey of learning. I do not
mean putting unreasonable demands on you. I mean supporting you as you try
difficult things, and never assuming you cannot accomplish them.
I’m much lazier and less courageous than Miss
Cory (or Flan, or Hendrickson or others I could mention). However, I do love
forgetting for a moment that you are not the graduate students I used to teach.
Former colleagues hear what we do in Advanced Honors Bio, or Advanced Honors Science
Research and say: “You can’t do that in high-school!”
I usually reply: “Wanna come watch?” I just wish
it were as beautiful to watch as PDG.
Part II: The cost of safe and easy
On Sunday, I went to a memorial service for a
former Bishop’s student. She was 24. She died as the result of a drug overdose.
She was home. Her mother found her in her room. I cannot imagine, or maybe I
just will not imagine, the anguish.
The chaplain at the memorial said several times
that we should not remember her for her drug problem. Her death was no one’s
fault, he assured us. That’s an appropriate thing to say at a memorial, I
suppose. But I couldn’t help wondering if it was just a comforting lie we tell
ourselves.
This girl didn’t graduate from Bishops. She was
asked to leave early in her sophomore year because of some drug-related issues.
It was a pretty high-profile infraction and it involved other students on a
retreat.
We had some passionate arguments about it. Was
this primarily a health issue or a disciplinary one? It was decided to be
primarily the latter.
Since Sunday, I have been asking myself,
"Did we do enough to help that young girl? Do we even do that much any
more?"
When we decide to let a student have a smooth
exit, off the record of course, rather than take on the messy business of helping
him or her get better, who are we helping?
I’d like to suggest that avoiding the “Safe and
Easy” should apply to this too. We need to do the hard work of being a
community. When we find a student with a severe problem, this should be the
place where they are shown support and understanding. I don’t want to go to a
memorial for one of you in 6 years…or ever.
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