Paper 1
Julie Hamilton
It was my first year of teaching. After two years of working in a local literacy lab, I earned my MAT and a teaching position in Springfield. I would be teaching 3rd grade at Walterville School and developing and operating the school's first Literacy Lab. I immediately drove the beautiful stretch of road, the McKenzie Hwy., to look at my new school. I new rural life intimately and I love it. I knew to expect strong parent involvement and I felt assured that I would be teaching with the support of a parent group that values education and a healthy environment.
The school year started with a bang. I was teaching full time and organizing the Lit. Lab during my breaks and on weekends. There weren't any supplies. Hundreds of my own dollars were spent on books and other supplies that couldn't seem to be located. I felt an initial sense of distance from the parent community, but I was too busy and overwhelmed to think about if for too long. I chalked it up to my lack of experience and their apprehension of having a new teacher. About a month into the school year, the PTO held a book fair as a fundraiser. Teachers were asked to fill out a "wish list" of books they would like for their classroom so that families may, in turn, purchase them for the class. I declined to participate in the "wish list" idea, explaining that I was new and felt uncomfortable asking for books, but would gladly buy my own books to support the PTO. I was told quite sharply that this was considered rude and I would be depriving the children of something they enjoyed doing. I promptly agreed to fill out my "wish list'. Students voted for the books they wanted and filled our list with a variety of books, the most popular on being Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by Jane Rawlings. This book was on display as part of the fundraiser. In the end, I thanked the students in front of the class for the gifted books. The child who had given the class "Harry Potter" announced concern that the vocabulary in this book was difficult. I mentioned that it was available on audio tape and that maybe I would purchase it.
The next evening I received a phone call at home just as I was heading out the door with my family. It was a parent of a boy in my class. She said that she was a Christian and didn't want her son reading the "Harry Potter" book. I sad that he didn't need to, it was just one of our many classroom books. She asked me if I had read the book and I stated that I had not. She continued, ignoring my request to taok before school tomorrow, as my family was wating for me. She said that her son had told her I was taping the book for the whole class to listen to. I chuckled, (big mistake), and said that no, I owned many books on tape and was considering this one because I had heard the the vocabulary was difficult. I asked her whether she had made it clar with her son that he was not to read it. She tole me that Jesus is her son's friend and that he would never be interested in anything of the devil. At this point, I asked her to call me in the morning, as my family was taiting and, truthfully, I had no idea what was going on or how to handle this. I thanked her for her concern and she shankedme for my time. It seemed like a cordial ending.
Her son never returned to school. Two days later she called my principal and told hiime I was promoting Satanic literature, laughing at her Christian ideals, forcing children to read the book, and planning to lay the audio tape quietly in the classroom to ensure that each child receives it's message subliminally. Apparently, during her three days of absence, she had shared this with others as well. For over the next 3-4 weeks, my mailbox was filled with photo copies of pages from the book, reams of internet articles warning of the secret messages hidden within the text, and hand written notes from parents stating that their child is not to read or listen to any of the "Harry Potter" books. I felt totally alone. I knew no one, either staff or parents. I received some sympathetic glances, but they seemed few and far between. A formal petition was made by several parents to have the book banned. I tried to remain professional and about my work, but the atmosphere was nearly intolerable. Before school, after school, and many times throughout the day I was asked:
Are you a Christian? Do you teach evolution? Why do you live in Eugene? How often do you say the Pledge of Allegiance? Do you have a husband? Are there gangs at SEHS? Are you a Christian? Do you celebrate Christmas? Do you live near the U of O campus? Why was my child late in getting to the office for church release? Are you a Christian? Do you plan only fun things when the other children are at church release? So, why aren't you married? I saw that you have a book about children in South Africa, that stuff? What do you think of the Clintons? Are you a Christian? Do you believe we are connected to trees? That's what a lot of people in Eugene think.
Strangers would stare in from outside my room. Parents of my class would walk in unannounced while I was teaching and flip through the books in by book boxes and then leave.
I was expected to be at a PTO evening meeting I had signed up for at the beginning of the year to meet the members. I received permission from my principal to attend at a later date. I discovered the next day that many of the parents who were asking me these questions had shown up at the meeting to 'talk' publicly with me. Other staff and parents were there to field their questions and were appalled at the intensity of the growing movement. I spoke with my principal regarding possible legal stands I might take to stop the harassment and defamation. He became involved and the movement that had felt so powerful and mighty subsided as quickly as it appeared.
I just complete my 2nd year at Walterville. Eventually, I was told that I had been suspect from the start. Living in Eugene, unmarried, and not commenting on their favorite question, "Are you a Christian?", made me ripe for suspicion in this lovely little rural community. Apparently, at the height of the movement, I was believed to be a witch and prayer groups were formed to protect children from me. In retrospect, it now seems ironic that parents continued to send their children to me everyday. The book was never banned and I was discovered to be just another caring, hard working, new teacher. I was granted a transfer request and begin this fall at a new school.