Despite the early hour and cold temperatures, hundreds of people filled the green space of Centennial Plaza on Monday, Feb. 6. Comprising the crowd were students, parents, teachers, church members, and other community members drawn from across the St. Louis area. American flags, unicorn costumes, rainbow apparel, and Catholic school uniforms alike made their way to the front yard of CHS.

Officially beginning at 7:50 a.m., the protest by the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) involved far fewer. A total of five protestors stood in a police-protected area approximately half a football field away from the larger crowd. The WBC members sang songs and held signs with messages like “Mourn For Your Sins” and “Soldiers Die 4 Fag Marriage.”

According to its website, the WBC was protesting CHS’ support for its students, especially its Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).

“We go to high schools all over the country, but Clayton has been on our radar,” WBC member Fred Phelps Jr. said.

Phelps said that the group’s reason for protesting is to send the message that “sodomy” will destroy the nation.

“What this country is doing is raising, as a general rule, children who are utterly, completely ignorant of the Bible, are amoral, and have no fear of God,” Phelps said. “And of course that’s a sign of the last days.”

A Westboro Baptist Church member protests the Gay-Straight Alliance at CHS. (Paul Lisker)

The Clayton community first learned of the WBC’s plans to protest when the church contacted the Clayton Police, requesting protection for the day of the protest. The CHS GSA immediately began brainstorming how they wanted to respond.

Senior Halo Howell, co-president of the GSA, said some students initially had angry responses.

“They were really riled up about it,” Howell said. “Like ‘let’s go naked,’ and ‘let’s go run around and make out with people.’ So we immediately had to deal with kind of suppressing that reaction and being like ‘no, this is going to be a really positive event where everyone is supporting our community, and we get to show that support and how awesome Clayton really is.”

The GSA created an event page on Facebook, which they used to spread the word about the planned CHS response. A few things were asked of students and community members: to remain peaceful, to get all signs approved by the school administration, and to celebrate CHS instead of “counter-protesting” the WBC.

Both Andrea Hermann and Sydney Wright, two of the GSA’s co-presidents, said that they were pleased with the way students behaved and sent only peaceful, positive messages.

The administration had also emphasized the importance for all students to report to their first period classes on time. There was some concern that this might be difficult to manage, but as 8:20 a.m. approached, students streamed into the school building. A number of outside supporters clapped for them as the students passed.

“I was really impressed by our students and the way they behaved and how when asked to go to class, they went to class,” associate principal Dan Gutchewsky said. “A couple of the news organizations and the police all commented that they couldn’t believe that everyone left and went to class when they were supposed to. They were kind of amazed.”

Common Ground

People came to support the response from all over the St. Louis area, including many high schools. There were students representing Ladue High School, Burroughs, MIDCS, Villa Duchesne, Visitation Academy, and others.

“We came to support everyone and protest the Westboro church, because I think it’s disgusting what they’re saying and doing,” said Lizzy Wallis, a junior at Ladue High School. “I was kind of nervous coming because I didn’t know if there were going to be riots or something breaking out. I didn’t expect to see this many people. I was surprised when I came up because I knew it was a big deal, but I didn’t know how many people would actually show up.”

Meadow Faulkner, also a junior at Ladue High School, said she agrees with the peaceful manner of CHS’ response.

“I came out here to support a cause because I really believe in equality and tolerance,” Faulkner said. “And I just believe in the support of Clayton High School even with the protesters who came to hate.”

Nick Rubin, a student at Washington University in St. Louis, lives close to CHS. He said he came because he is gay and supports gay rights. He also said that he agrees with how CHS students chose to respond to the protesters; however, he wishes the students were not so fenced off.

Supporters from outside of CHS display their signs. (Paul Lisker)

However, students weren’t the only ones that came to the high school to show their support. Valery York-Schneider, a 59-year-old from South City, came because she wanted to set an example of how to respond to the protest for her family.

“I am a life-long lesbian,” York-Schneider said. “I had a 33-year partnership until my life partner died. So I have participated in this kind of thing my whole life. And I just love the way Clayton High School has got such an open and embracing inclusiveness with its student body. It’s like ‘My gosh! How can you not be here?’”

York-Schneider, who has been witnessing the changing attitude toward the LGBT community for many years, believes that events like this prove that society is moving toward a more open position and attitude.

“I think this is a part of a wonderful and evolving inclusiveness, in general,” York-Schneider said. “You will have pockets like the Westboro group who feel differently, but I think we are becoming a much more inclusive society.”

Like the CHS GSA and administration, many visitors hoped that the response would remain positive.

“I came out to support the students,” said 49-year-old Mark Fredericks of Richmond Heights. “Obviously I don’t like Westboro’s message but I wanted to keep it peaceful and keep it loving.”

Leon Braxton, the executive director of The LGBT Center of St. Louis, attended the event with kids from the program to show their support for the community.

“This is the response I was expecting to see,” Braxton said. “Because in St. Louis, when you attack us, we bond together as one big happy family. We come out and it’s wonderful to see that not only are there young people here but there are people well into their 80s.”

Like many supporters, Cheryl from South County had personal reasons for attending the response. But she was still surprised by the magnitude of the event.

“It’s more than I expected,” Cheryl said. “I’ve never done this before, so I really had no idea what to expect. But I had a step-daughter who was transgender, and she died five years ago, so kind of doing it for her too.”

For Occupy St. Louis member Catherine Lipinski, participating in the response was about something bigger than herself.

“[We came out today] because biogotry is not okay,” Lipinski said. “And it’s not okay to try to shove that message in front of kids and down kids’ throats. As far as I’m concerned, the children of this country really are our future, and if we want to build a world where hate isn’t acceptable, then we can’t allow for hate to be brought to the kids’ front doors.”

Love in Numbers

The GSA’s goal was to hold a peaceful response to the WBC protest, but many came to see the morning as more than just a response. Junior Jonah Lindblad said it was a great demonstration of the strength of the community and of how much support the school has for the LGBT community.

“I thought it was really beautiful,” Lindblad said. “It was great. We had a couple veterans out there who actually had American flags with them; we had moms holding up a pride flag. We had such a vast amount of people, I felt it was really empowering.”

CHS Principal Louise Losos also said she was impressed by how much support CHS received.

“It was so heartening to see the number of people that showed up to support us,” Losos said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of this school and this community. There hasn’t been a negative note at any point – it’s been fantastic.”

Wright said that the response was significant for the LGBT community, at large.

Senior Margaret Mulligan sends a positive message at the front of the barricaded student area. (Paul Lisker)

“It really brought everyone together and reminded people why we were here,” Wright said. “[It showed] more support for the LGBT community and support for equality across all borders, instead of just anti-Westboro.”

In addition to the discussion that took place at the high school, conversations regarding the protest were raised at the district’s middle school.

Mary Ann Goldberg, Wydown Middle School’s principal, said that the event has been a great “teachable moment.”

“At the middle school, we had conversations all last week, in Social Studies class and in Literacy class, about how the Westboro people get to do this, and then how we need to respond to it,” Goldberg said. “So it’s been a lesson in civics and citizenship and to why our country runs the way it does – it provides people the opportunity to be able to do this.”

Goldberg said she knew of a number of middle school students whose parents brought them to CHS the morning of the protest, because their parents felt it was important for them to experience the event and to express their support.

To some, the event was a reminder of what makes Clayton unique.

“We talk about the Clayton community being very supportive, very open-minded,” Losos said. “You know that sort of intuitively, but when you actually see it in evidence, it’s very affirming and reminds me of why I’m very appreciative of working where I work.”

GSA sponsor David Hoffman said the school’s response to the protest is important for the CHS community, specifically.

“It was touching,” Hoffman said. “It was so supportive. If you’re a kid in this school who is wondering about his own identity, what I think we saw here today says ‘you’re okay.’ And I think that’s a great message.”

Howell had a similar response about the Clayton community.

“Clayton has been surprising me since I moved here,” Howell said. “People can make whatever judgments they want to make, but these people will really stand up for you when the time is right, when you really need them. They’ll go outside of their comfort zone and really put up a good fight.”
Although the WBC protest generated a good deal of discussion about the best response, many supporters said they agreed with the peaceful response by the CHS student body.

“The GSA worked long and hard to make sure that it was a celebration of us and not a counter-protest, and I think that’s exactly what it was,” Hoffman said. “It’s like they didn’t matter today. It wasn’t about them being here, it was about us. We couldn’t have planned an event to celebrate the LGBT community better than what happened today.”

Education has been compared to a pendulum, swinging between extremes. Teachers bemoan losses of autonomy in the classroom and pressures to quantify and measure, while national trends sway the pendulum towards assessment, data, and standardization on an industrial scale.

“Some wonder if the pendulum has swung too far, especially in as unique of a place as Clayton,” said CHS Academic Director and social studies teacher Josh Meyers.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was, in many ways, the impetus behind that swing. Signed into law in 2002, the education reform set national standards for America’s public school system. It tested students for standardized knowledge, and it held school districts accountable for the results.  Since then, Clayton has been adjusting to meet the demands of NCLB and other national pressures.

“When I first got here we had huge curriculum binders that were all teacher-written,” said Sharmon Wilkinson, Superintendent of the School District of Clayton. “That started to change, particularly with No Child Left Behind.”

All graphics by Dee Luo

Even at Clayton, a district that traditionally had taken national standards and assessments fairly lightly, changes have occurred.

“No Child Left Behind came along, and the stakes got higher,” said CHS Assistant Principal Marci Pieper. “Every child across needs to be proficient by 2013? It almost seemed like the task was set up for failure.”
And Clayton has failed, at least by NCLB standards. For the past four years, the District has not met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), despite the fact that average scores on state tests are well above proficiency levels.

The system created by NCLB is undoubtedly imperfect, but it remains the law of the land in education.

“I don’t suppose Clayton has a choice,” said retired Captain teacher Lee Scissors. “It has to meet the national and state standards.”

Now, 11 years after its enactment, changes are still taking place. Across the nation, schools are becoming more focused on assessment, more driven by data and alignment. Nationally, education has become an industry, dedicated to producing students with standard knowledge and experiences with scientific precision. Clayton is, sometimes unwillingly, following suit, and the industry of education continues to prosper.

Measurement

Testing, testing, testing. Assessment is emphasized in the industry of education, but prior to NCLB Clayton’s attitude towards state testing was “cavalier.”

“Clayton didn’t pay as much attention to the tests,” said Wydown science teacher Claudia Wall. “It’s not like they weren’t trying to focus on success, but there wasn’t all this wailing and gnashing of teeth about it.”

While standardized tests may seem superfluous in a district like Clayton, where students are renowned for their intellectualism and intelligence, NCLB has provided an important window into student performance. All districts, Clayton included, must now examine the proficiency of all students.

“In the past, you could say we were kind of cavalier, but we were looking at average scores,” said Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Dottie Barbeau. “You really can’t be so cavalier when you get these scores that show that 20 percent of your population is scoring much lower.”

Due to state requirements that students make AYP, testing has become more prominent. Each subgroup –  a group of more than 30 students, such as African-American or IEP students –  must meet AYP in order for the District as a whole to do so.

Students are increasingly inundated with assessment. The list of standardized tests taken by Clayton students, a hodgepodge of acronyms, continues to grow.

Among these are the MAP, EOC, ERB, SRI, DRA2, Terra Nova, AIMS, NWEA, EXPLORE, PLAN and ACT. Students spend hours each year taking these tests. Fifth graders spend almost 14 hours in a year testing, as do eighth graders. High school students spend 17 hours taking standardized tests over their four years, not including AP tests, which typically last three hours each.

The data that all of this testing provides is dissected by administrators and teachers.

“These big summative assessments like MAP tests and the ACT test, those are like an autopsy,” Barbeau said. “It gives us a lot of information. An autopsy tells you about the effects of your life choices, maybe, or family genetic issues, the impact of your diet and medications. So the autopsy tells us a lot, but it doesn’t help the patient. So what we need are the annual check-ups, and that’s what our formative assessments and some of our common assessments are supposed to do.”

Indeed, the District “asked that all teachers of like courses and grade levels give, at minimum, two assessments in common during each semester,” according to Barbeau.

A common assessment does not necessarily ask the same questions, but could instead test a skill. Teachers use their Professional Learning Community (PLC) time to collaborate in creating and examining common assessments.

“If you don’t have a common assessment that more than one classroom is using, how do you know if you’re hitting that mark or not?” Barbeau said. “You have to have a standard to compare to.”

Numbers Game

From testing, the District gleans huge amounts of data. With the rapid improvement of technology in the past decades, districts can now process data with efficiency. Data Warehouse makes student data easily accessible to teachers.

“We have at our finger tips now much more sophisticated ways to measure what kids know,” Barbeau said. “We can more easily monitor the progress that students are making to see incremental learning gains.”
In their PLCs, teachers of the same department or same class come together to compare student data and trends, and to converse about how student performance can be improved.

“I don’t want it to sound very cold and prescriptive, because it’s not,” Barbeau said. “It still is calling on the teacher to interpret that data and say, this data is telling me that these kids need something. And then we want the teachers to bring that breadth of knowledge they have and that innovation… and then you go back in your classrooms and try all of that. And then you come back together and see if it worked. Because if it’s not working, you need to go back and try something new. But if it is working, then we want you to share that with everybody else who might be teaching the same class.”

Scores on tests are clearly a pride of the District, as shown by the massive posters in the Commons proclaiming Clayton’s ACT, AP, National Merit, and PISA scores. Yet some teachers worry that the focus on data can be overbearing, perhaps at a cost to other areas.

“I’ve heard a phrase that people use to talk about keeping in line with a test,” said English teacher Emily Grady. “You don’t fatten a pig by weighing it. Any time the focus is put on testing and numbers, it seems like you lose the instruction part.”

Weighing the pig, as Grady puts it, is a nationwide trend. NCLB placed a premium on numbers, and the nations schools have been influenced.

“I think that not only here, but nationwide, people are becoming aware that education is data-driven,” said English teacher John Ryan. “I worry that means we are leveling downwards instead of holding a higher standard.”

Many teachers spoken with for this article questioned to what degree students’ learning can be represented by data. While numbers can give teachers helpful insight into student’s academic progress, it may not paint the full picture. Some teachers worry that tests will only show one side of the progress made by their students.

“Data doesn’t take into account the human element of education – the magic moments that happen between a teacher and students in a classroom – that cannot be quantified,” said English teacher Susan Teson.

Social studies teacher Sam Harned, too, expressed doubt as to whether education could be quantified as NCLB and current educational trends suggest.

“The very best things that go on in a classroom cannot be measured, but people love to think that they can somehow measure education,” Harned said. “And maybe some things you can measure, but the best things you cannot.”

English teacher Jennifer Sellenriek provided the example of a student being judged by his poor standardized test scores, when in reality the whole picture was more positive.

“Oh my gosh, this kid bombed the standardized test,” Sellenriek said. “And I say, ‘No, but every single day he asks a good question, he totally gets the big picture.’ We need to help him read for detail, that’s his problem. He’s not a failing student, he’s got one little glitch.”

The push for data permeates education in Clayton. “Data is essential for making decisions for individuals and their academic achievement,” read a recent Captain Elementary email newsletter from Principal Sean Doherty. But the arts, in particular, are finding it difficult to measure skills based on data. Diana Haydon, a Glenridge Elementary School art teacher, has struggled to produce “evidence” of her student’s success.

“There is tremendous pressure for hard data of student performance,” Haydon said. “The arts do not easily translate into numbers that can be graphed and compared against standards. Paying attention to the arts requires tolerance for ambiguity.”

In the end, the use of data forces teachers to become amateur statisticians, using graphs and numbers and charts to evaluate students and make instructional decisions.

“Trying to make this into a science is ultimately going to be a spirit-killing operation,” Harned said. “Nobody going into this field is going into it because they want to scientifically reduce education to data.”

Lining Up

One of the District’s primary curricular goals over the past five years has been to vertically and horizontally align the curriculum. This was part of the five-year Comprehensive School Improvement Plan, drafted in 2008 by a committee of students, staff, parents and community members. For the purposes of this article, the focus will be on horizontal alignment: standardizing learning across grade levels.

The purpose of horizontal alignment, according to several administrators, is to develop certain “assured experiences,” so that there will be a standard that all students in a certain grade or class will achieve. The District, they said, needs to ensure that every sixth grader entering Wydown will have certain skills, and that every freshman will be at some level of proficiency.

“By having horizontally aligned curriculum, we have a shared understanding of the expectations and rigor we want for our students,” said Director of Assessment Heidi Shepard. “It allows for teachers to have thoughtful curriculum conversations as we constantly monitor our students’ successes and whether we are keeping the curriculum in alignment to state and college expectations.”

Curriculum alignment is a national trend, and Missouri recently decided to adopt the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). A response to the poor and varied state assessment practices after No Child Left Behind, the CCSS are coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers. They have been adopted by 45 states thus far. The CCSS provide standards that will grant uniformity to the nation’s state assessments.

“It’s an expectation that kids across our country will be measured to a similar standard, and that way, as our society is more mobile, you have an expectation that you will be able to be successful no matter where you go, and that all states have a similarly challenging curriculum,” Barbeau said.

Since Clayton students will soon be tested over the material  and skills in CCSS on Missouri state assessments, the District is in the process of incorporating the standards into the written curriculum. In many cases, this has already occurred. However, Barbeau said that the CCSS will serve as the “floor level expectation” as committees embed the guidelines into curriculum. She said that the CCSS tell teachers what to teach, not how to teach it, and she called the standards “very exciting.”

“It is ratcheting up the expectations for learning, and that’s an exciting message for students…” Barbeau said. “Here in Clayton, we already have some highly ratcheted-up expectations, but even [the Common Core Standards], in some areas, will be pushing us to improve what we do.”

Sellenriek was also enthusiastic about the new standards. She said that the CCSS, unlike older state standards, do a good job of incorporating intellectual curiosity and skills such as synthesizing information. Sellenriek said that she hopes the CCSS are, as Barbeau said, the minimum expectation.

“If we have this conversation the right way, it’s how does Common Core represent what we want, and what else can we do?” Sellenriek said. “If we have the right kind of conversation, Common Core can be the bare minimum, and we’re going to do more.  And that’s the Clayton I’d like to be part of.”

The drive for horizontal alignment is not uniformly accepted among teachers. To some, the desire to create a larger degree of uniformity in the classroom experience is puzzling.

“While I understand why parents want all students to meet the same objectives, one of my questions has been that I don’t quite understand why people want every child to have the exact same lessons and assessments in every classroom,” said English teacher James Lockhart. “Just because it’s different does not mean it’s less, it’s just different.”

Nancy Freeman, who retired as journalism adviser last year, said that making kids have the same experience is “never going to be possible.”

Several teachers expressed concern that standardizing curriculum would result in a loss of teacher independence.

“We’ve always cherished the autonomy of teachers… but now there are cases where curriculum is being dictated, and it has increased in the past decade, and it worries me,” Ryan said.

Meyers said that curriculum alignment has both pros and cons.

“By determining what you’re going to emphasize and what you’re not going to emphasize it’s liberating in a certain sense,” Meyers said. “I know that in a given unit I only have to teach these 10 to 20 concepts or events in depth. The flip side of that is that a teacher who has a particular interest or passion on a topic may feel compelled to spend less time on it or skip it altogether if it doesn’t fit within the identified framework.”

While Clayton is not nearly as progressed in curriculum alignment as other districts, Harned said that he worries the trend of increasing standardization could, in the future, hamper teacher creativity.

“You’ve got to be careful that [alignment] doesn’t result in conformity, that it doesn’t result in a loss of teacher energy and initiative,” Harned said.

Curriculum alignment at the high school is not as entrenched as at the elementary schools. Teachers used to work to develop the elementary school curriculum, but that ended several years ago. Now, the District purchases ready-made curriculums – one teacher called them “teacher’s manuals” and said that in some cases “it’s word for word.”

“It tells you exactly what to read, when to stop, and how many children should respond,” said one teacher who preferred to remain anonymous. “It’s a script. And there’s not a lot of flexibility, and not a whole lot of room to be creative for the teachers that want to be.”

Curriculum is aligned across grade levels and all three elementary schools. Each subject has its own curriculum book, which includes activities, questions to ask students, and time allotments for lessons. At the end of each unit is a test, included in the “manual,” which each elementary school teacher of that grade level will give his or her students.

“I could go do my own thing and teach fractions my own way, but the bottom line is they have to take this test at the end, so why would I not go by the lesson provided, that’s been proven, all these people have studied this,” said another teacher who preferred to remain anonymous. “Why do I think I know more than the textbook people? So I’m just going to go by the text.”

This approach to curriculum is, according to the teachers spoken with for this article, helpful for new, inexperienced teachers. But, they said, it is not necessary for teachers with decades of experience, and the end result is a loss of creativity.

“What hurts the most is that those creative things kids remember long after they have left school are gone,” one teacher said. “Kids aren’t going to remember reading a social studies textbook and answering questions about it. Sure they’ll learn from it, but it’s not going to bring a smile to their face when they remember learning it.”

Barbeau said that she can sympathize with teachers’ concerns, but that fears of “cookie-cutter” teaching and complete loss of autonomy are “misdirected.” She said that “we need to teach this, we need to teach students how to divide two-digit fractions, but we can teach that however we want.”

Wilkinson said that she thinks teachers are still able to be creative in the classroom.

“I think we still want teachers to be innovative and creative in their practice and delivery of the curriculum,” Wilkinson said. “We hired teachers for who they are, the passion for their subject area, and so we do want them to bring all that, and so you don’t want something to become so regimented that they feel they can’t. But I think there’s still that question of what’s the commonality of experiences that we want students to have, and what are the critical understandings that we want students to have?”

As the District continues to align curriculum, those questions will likely be answered. And while one teacher said that having some constants across the District was a necessity, they said that controlling how teachers implement curriculum is not the best path.

“The way that teachers go about it is the art of it, and that’s the fun part of teaching,” one teacher said. “It’s not as fun as it used to be.”

Industry

Testing, data usage and standardization are national trends, and Clayton is feeling the pressure to conform. But Clayton has long viewed itself as unique, as a regional leader. Now some worry that we are being forced to sacrifice that position.

“I think that we are having to become more like everybody else,” said business teacher Marci Boland. “I do see that we are not quite as unique as we used to be.”

What made Clayton unique in the past was, according to former Assistant Superintendent Linda Henke, “the ability to innovate and try out new ideas. We had talented teachers and administrators who conducted research in their classrooms, wrote articles about their teaching, read widely, and helped to lead the district.”

Freeman and others pointed out that Clayton is increasingly comparing itself to “market districts” or “comparable districts.” She said that 15 years ago “the thought that we were turning into just another Parkway or just another Rockwood would have been horrifying… We wanted to be the best.  I think that people still want it, but they’re not always willing to do the things that that requires.”

What exactly that requires may be the sticking point. Harned said that he believes Clayton is unique because of its inherently intellectual environment, and that the District needs to find its identity and work to maintain it.

“You’d better truly figure out what your identity as a school is going to be, and then preserve that identity at all costs,” Harned said. “ If you don’t guard it, it will get eroded. It’s not necessarily that you’re under assault, but if you don’t guard what you treasure as a school, then it could eventually erode.”

It would be wrong to suggest that the changes in education of the past decade are caused only by NCLB. Economic downturn has caused districts around the nation to cut costs, and Clayton is now beginning to feel that pressure. Social studies teacher David Aiello said that he has seen a business-like mentality develop in District leadership, a sense that the “bottom line” is the most important factor in some decisions.

“If every decision must be based primarily on financial cost, then there should be no surprise when innovation and extra efforts by employees decline,” Aiello said. “Clayton School District employees have always given way more than they were paid for, and I don’t expect that to change.  But I also believe that it gets more difficult for people to continue going above and beyond when they have to spend more and more time justifying every possible cost for any new idea that they want to try with students.”

He described a time when the District was “so positive and full of optimism about the future,” a time when District leadership “instilled confidence in the employees and the community that Clayton was a truly special school district, and that we needed to keep the great things from our past but constantly innovate to find new ways to be a leader in public education.”

Although Aiello admits that he may be reminiscing through rose-colored glasses, he said that he has a seen a “dramatic philosophical shift” in the way the District is run. Whereas in the past, visionary leadership heavily nurtured teacher innovation and creativity, he said that recent Boards of Education and administrations have been more akin to managers, focused on a financial bottom line and “afraid of making mistakes,” “to the detriment of programs and people who can keep us innovative.”

Other teachers have perceived a sense of distrust between “management” and teachers, stemming from the push for data-driven decisions, common assessment, and curriculum alignment.

“My personal feeling is that there is much less trust now than there was 10 years ago,” said one teacher. “I personally think the Board has a lot to do with it. I think the Board is micromanaging and doing too much day-to-day functions of the District. It’s the Board’s job to set policy, and that’s it. And they’re trying to run the schools.”

That lack of trust was apparent as we conducted interviews for this story. Several teachers asked to be anonymous, and many were wary of expressing their full opinion.

“[The District] used to value discourse and dissent from teachers and didn’t see it as a threat,” said an anonymous teacher. “They would see discourse as a way to really look forward and get the best ideas out there. Now, if you do that, you’ll get a job target – you’re essentially a threat to the system.”

This system, this industry of education, is dynamic. It is a pendulum swaying between opposites: data and alignment on one side, and authentic assessment and complete teacher independence on the other. “I think it’s getting ready to be more balanced,” one teacher said.

But Lockhart was not so optimistic.

“I hope to find a middle ground, but that seems impossible in education,” Lockhart said. “We always swing widely from one extreme to another.”

Video detailing Westboro Baptist Church’s visit to Clayton High School

Read the Q&A with Fred Phelps Jr. of the Westboro Baptist Church: http://www.chsglobe.com/globeweb/2012/02/qa-with-fred-phelps-jr-of-the-westboro-baptist-church/

Clayton Students hold signs during the protest of Westboro Baptist Church's visit on Feb. 6. (Paul Lisker)

Greyhound Exclusive Television, a production of the Greyhound News Network, episode 6.

Senior Paul Lisker presents during World Cultures Day.

A member of the Westboro Baptist Church makes her point with signs in the free speech area outside the stadium before the start of Super Bowl XLV where the Green Bay Packers face the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, February 6, 2011. (Sharon Ellman/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT)

The picket will last from 7:50 to 8:20 a.m. and will take place on City of Clayton property across from Centennial Plaza. The GSA has taken the initiative in organizing a response to the protest.

“We’ll have a face painting booth for those who arrive early, Love Conquers Hate T-shirts, and a donation table where people can donate money to different charities,” said senior Andrea Hermann, one of the GSA’s four presidents. “In addition we’ll have a large canvas rolled out where people can dip their hands in paint and place their hand-prints, which will then be hung up in the Commons.”

Principal Louise Losos said that she expects a large gathering of students – including students from other schools – parents, and a number of organizations to show their support Monday morning.

“I hope that it will be a positive demonstration showing who we are as a school and as a community,” Losos said. “It should be a celebration of us, not an attack on ‘them.’ I hope that we will have a peaceful counter-demonstration and at 8:15 students head inside and school begins on schedule at 8:20.”

Another co-president of the GSA, Nadia Diamond, also stressed the importance of being in class for the start of the school day.

“This protest is not an excuse to skip school,” Diamond said. “The WBC will succeed in their goal if they disrupt our day-to-day life, and therefore students should make sure they arrive at their first period class on time.”

The GSA and school administrators have emphasized that the purpose of the CHS response is to peacefully counter the WBC protest with a celebration of Clayton’s diversity and support for LGBTQ individuals.

“We want our message to be about the community and not the WBC,” Hermann said. “Our goal is not to fight back, but to come together as a loving community even in the company of these hateful, arrogant people.”

Diamond said that in order to successfully counter the protesters’ message, students and supporters must avoid acting in a potentially harmful manner.

The Clayton High School Gay Straight Alliance is selling "Love Conquers Hate" t-shirts as part of the response.

“The WBC relies on winning free speech lawsuits at the places they protest in order to make money to voice their hate everywhere else,” Diamond said. “If we really want to counter them and dilute their message, we should not do anything that could lead to them filing a lawsuit against us. Ways we can keep that from happening are not doing anything to make them feel threatened such as yelling back at them or approaching them.”

In order to reduce any antagonism toward the WBC protesters, the school administration said that all signs on school grounds must be approved before they are displayed. Signs with negative or sarcastic messages directed toward the WBC will be confiscated.

Hermann said that the school’s planned response has received a great deal of support from the community.

“I am so proud to say that I’m a member of a community that cares so deeply about each other and sending a positive message,” Hermann said. “Everyone has been so helpful and wonderful. I can’t begin to thank them enough!”

Losos agreed that the event has led many community members to express their pride in the district. She also emphasized the importance of demonstrating what Clayton stands for.

“In the end, we have no intention of allowing them to change who we are and what we do,” Losos said. “Monday is a day of school, and I think educating our students to be active, involved and informed citizens is the best response to Westboro’s hate.”

More information on the event schedule, donations, and parking can be found at the School District of Clayton’s website.

This is the vision behind James Surls’ recently commissioned sculpture for Shaw Park titled Molecular Bloom with Single Flower.  18 feet tall and 10 feet wide, this new sculpture, set to be complete by the spring of 2013, will be a significant addition to Clayton’s world-class collection of public art.

Molecular Bloom with Single Flower by James Surls is set to be completed by the spring of 2013. (Courtesy of James Surls)

Almost a year ago, the Clayton Century Foundation, in a joint effort with the City of Clayton, established a committee to begin the selection process of a piece of art for the corridor between the ice skating rink and pool in Shaw Park.

“This is a great place to have a commissioned piece that is about Clayton, for Clayton and specifically designed for the site and this city,” Patty DeForrest, the Director of Clayton Parks and Recreation, said.

The committee sent out 40 requests for proposals to artists across the country.  Then, this past December, the committee unveiled the final four proposals to the public.  Ultimately, the committee selected Surls’ tall bronze sculpture of a single flower in a slender vase.

In his written proposal to the committee, Surls explains how his inspiration for the sculpture was derived from the simple notion of the uniqueness of a single flower in representing a city in bloom: “As an artist, my sculpture begins with an idea, a belief, a truth I consider to be a universal concept.  This concept will reflect the importance of the City of Clayton’s 100 year of existence, it’s centennial, and promote the region’s artistic stature.  It will reflect and recognize the people of this remarkable area and will become a landmark for all humanity.  To create a legacy for Clayton and Shaw Park is a personal honor.”

DeForrest indicated that she is very thankful and appreciative of the community’s dedication to public art like this sculpture by Surls.

“I think it’s great that we are bringing a world renowned artist’s work to Clayton and also that the community has been so supportive of public art,” DeForrest said.  “I just think it’s a very striking and beautiful piece of art.  I’m very excited to have something by [Surls] in the city.”

The Centene Corporation, a national health care company headquartered in Clayton, was at the forefront of the community’s support, pledging to donate the entire $400,000 for the commissioned sculpture through the Centene Charitable Foundation.

The sculpture will be dedicated in the spring of 2013 along with the surrounding new Century Garden.

“We are going to redesign the garden [around the sculpture],” DeForrest said.  “There will be a landscape architect brought on to work with the artist to redesign the site to really accentuate the art piece…I can’t wait to see the final product.”

Sophomore Marilyn Gund checks her Powerschool in the library. Some students complain that teachers do not update the site often enough.(Olivia MacDougal)

Powerschool, the online program to keep students and parents up to date on grades, fails to give an accurate portrayal of where a student actually stands in many of his or her courses.

The problem stems from the fact that teachers update the grades with infrequency. Teachers are only required to update the Powerschool portfolios by the end of the quarter, but are encouraged to update it during the course of the school year.

However, in some cases it could take weeks for teachers to update Powerschool, and small discrepancies could make or break a student’s grade when it comes down to the quarter.

Many students also check their Powerschool daily, trying to find out if they did badly on an assignment, and to check in with the teacher if they did.  The lack of updating is leaving students feeling unfulfilled, and worried for when the teacher finally does post their grades online.

Many parents also check Powerschool and look for individual assignment grades. They become concerned if their child’s grades are low, but the child has turned in all the homework and projects for the class.

If this happens long enough, the parents will believe that Powerschool discrepancies are valid due to enough mistakes, even if the student hasn’t turned in multiple assignments.

The school should develop regulations for teachers to update their Powershool accounts, and force them to update at regular intervals, like the first of the month, for example. This would allow parents to see accurately what their students are turning in, and, as a result, be able to get more involved when there actually is a problem.

Students need a way to see their grades. That is where Powerschool comes in, but because of human input, grades are placed in later. And, unfortunately, for too many classes, this happens the last day that the teacher can post grades.

Former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, seen in this 2007 file photo, died Sunday, January 22, 2012. He was 85. (Barbara L. Johnston/Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT)

Joe Paterno, former Penn State head football coach, has died at age 85.

Paterno, who was relieved of his duties at Penn State in the middle of the college football season, won 409 games as the Nittany Lion’s head coach. He was their head coach for 46 years.

He is also remembered as a great person, not just a historic coach.

Paterno will also be remembered for not so pleasant news. Paterno’s former defensive coordinater, Jerry Sandusky, has been accused of sexual harassment on young boys.

Penn State’s head coach was supposedly told of the incidents, then told the university athletic director. Whatever actually happened in this awful turn of events is still unknown, but it should not tarnish Paterno’s memory.

Despite mistakes, Paterno was a good man. He was well respected, loved by his players, and never gave up. Though these events are awful, we must remember that Paterno did not have a direct hand in what was happening. Yes, he should have done more. He did tell his boss, though, which at the time he felt would take care of the issue.

We all make mistakes, and he was no different. His was a big one, and amplified because of his high ranking position, but it can not take away from all the good he did.

Many have weighed in on his death, including high ranking people outside the world of sports.

“I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Joe Paterno,” President George H. W. Bush said in a statement. “He was an outstanding American who was respected not only on the field of play but in life generally — and he was, without a doubt, a true icon in the world of sports.”

The Paterno family has released a statement on his death, which came after a two month battle with lung cancer.

“He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been,” the statement said. “His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.”

Source: ESPN.com

[Your Caption Here]

Mr. Hoelscher on Photobooth? Now that’s something you don’t see everyday.

Comment with your witty caption below, and your name could make it into next month’s Globe!

Need some inspiration? Find contests from past months here.

Stat Sheet:

Starting Caliber Players

C- Molina

1b- Berkman, Craig

2b- Schumaker, Descalso

SS- Furcal, Descalso

3B- Freese

OF- Berkman, Jay, Beltran, Holliday

Peter Baugh’s Projected Opening Day Line Up

The stats on the side are the projected stats (Batting average/RBIs/Home Runs)  for the starting line up. 

1: Furcal  (SS) .277/45/5

2: Jay (CF) .293/53/7

3: Berkman (1B) .301/92/29

4: Holliday (LF) .305/100/26

5: Beltran (RF) .279/87/28

6: Freese (3B) .299/76/18

7: Molina (C} .291/66/9

8: Schumaker (2B) .287/30/2

Pitching Rotation

1: Chris Carpenter

2: Adam Wainwright

3: Jaime Garcia

4: Kyle Lohse

5: Kyle McClellan

Bullpen:

Closer: Jason Motte

Set up Men: Rzepczynski, Salas, Boggs, Lynn, Romero

Long Reliever: Westbrook

Bench:

Descalso, Chambers, Greene, Cruz, M. Carpenter

Notables on the DL:

Allen Craig (When he returns IF M. Carpenter will be optioned to Triple A Memphis)

Future Faces:

Shelby Miller (#5 on MLB.com prospect list, #2 out of RHP)

Carlos Martinez (#25 on MLB.com prospect list, #9 RHP)

Zach Cox (#3 Cardinals prospect according to MLB.com prospect list)

Projection:

The Cardinals will make the playoffs in 2012, but first baseman Albert Pujols will be missed. Coming off a World Series championship, pressure is always high, and, weather or not the pressure is the reason, teams don’t seem to do well the year after a World Series Championship. Lets look back at some past World Series Champions not so special seasons.

2011 Giants: After a 2010 World Series Championship, the Giants struggled mightily. Despite the mid season acquisition of now Cardinal Carlos Beltran, the Giants finished with a 86-76 record, and failed to make the playoffs.

2007 Cardinals: Yup, that’s right, the Cardinals were World Series champions in 2006 too. The Cardinals had a disappointing 2007 year. Dealing with injuries to ace Chris Carpenter and a declining outfielder Jim Edmonds, the Cardinals finished with a measly 78-84 record, and failed to make the playoffs.

2006 White Sox: The White Sox swept the Astros in the 2005 World Series. Despite the thrilling ’05 team, the Sox failed to deliver in 2006. A third place finish kept them out of the playoffs.

Will the Cardinals have the same fate as these three teams? I don’t believe so.

The NL Central is not a very strong division. The Milwaukee Brewers are going to lose star first baseman Prince Fielder to free agency, and, unless something crazy happens, slugging outfielder Ryan Braun will miss fifty games due to a positive performance enhancing drug test. Braun is appealing the suspension, but he is expected to lose the appeal.

The Reds were division champions in 2010, and are still a strong team. That said, even with the acquisition of Padres pitcher Mat Latos, the Reds do not have a strong pitching staff. This will hold them back, and I do not expect to see them in the playoffs.

I expect the Cardinals to make the playoffs, and advance to the NLCS for a second straight year. However, the Cardinals luck will then run dry, and they will lose to the pitching strong Philadelphia Phillies.

Still, do not rule out the Cardinals to be  repeating champions. David Freese will be a year more experienced, and healthy (Freese dealt with injuries in both 2011 and 2010).

Only time will tell what this team holds, and don’t rule out anything. Nothings impossible in baseball. If that needs proving, just look at the 2011 Champion.

Photo by R. Baugh