MERRY CHRISTMAS, RIDGEWAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

UPDATE: COLD IN THE NIGHT
Over a week ago, I commented on the Ridgeway Elementary School winter program. On Friday, a comment left on that blog entry directed me to the website of the Dodgeville, Wisconsin School District.

According to the district, the Liberty Counsel grossly misrepresented the matter.


PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, December 8, 2005

As part of its winter program, the Ridgeway Elementary School is presenting “The Little Tree’s Christmas Gift,” a production copyrighted in 1988 by Amalgamated Talents, International, Van Nuys, CA. The production was written by Ann E. Lambert, arranged by Dwight Elrich, and illustrated by Stan Sakai. The production tells the story of a family going out to buy a Christmas tree using a collection of familiar Christmas carol melodies to tell the story. To the delight of their families, our students have performed this program several times over the past 18 years. The remainder of the program includes the singing of traditional Christmas carols.

Our district policy allows us to perform both religious and secular music in our curriculum and performances. We include both in order to achieve balance.

In addition, parents of children in the Dodgeville district received this letter:

December 12, 2005

Dear Parents,

This letter is written to inform you of recent developments in the school district that have drawn national attention. We want you to hear directly from us the facts of the matter.

On December 7,th we began receiving emails from around the country, but largely from outside of Wisconsin, from people representing the conservative Christian point of view regarding the secularization of Christmas. They wrote to us complaining that Ridgeway School personnel changed the lyrics to “Silent Night” for its winter program. Furthermore, they claimed the school allows the display of menorahs and other non-Christian religious symbols, but does not recognize Christ.

Please know that neither of these accusations is factual. No person at Ridgeway Elementary School altered the words to “Silent Night.” Rather, as part of its winter program, the Ridgeway Elementary School is presenting an adaptation of “The Little Tree’s Christmas Gift,”- a production copyrighted in 1988 by Amalgamated Talents, International, Van Nuys, CA. This production was written by Ann E. Lambert, arranged by Dwight Elrich, and illustrated by Stan Sakai. The original production told the story of a family going out to buy a Christmas tree using a collection of familiar Christmas carol melodies. To the delight of their families, our students have performed this program several times over the past 18 years. The remainder of the program includes singing of traditional religious and secular Christmas carols. Our district policy allows us to perform both religious and secular music in our curriculum and performances. We include both in order to achieve balance.

In addition, allegations have been made that the program will include a “Christmas Witch.” This is NOT correct. As part of the Social Studies curriculum, first graders study various cultural celebrations, hence there may be pictures in first grade classrooms of a Jewish menorah, St. Lucia of Sweden, and Santa as he is portrayed in different countries. They may also include La Befana from Italian folklore, who as the story is told, is an elderly grandmother who is sweeping crumbs out of her doorway as the Three Kings pass by on their way to find the baby Jesus. Because she is too busy she declines an invitation to accompany them and forever after regrets her hasty decision. She spends the rest of her days giving presents to children at Christmas time, still searching for the Holy Child. She is not the caricature witch Americans visualize at Halloween; rather, she is a peasant grandmother dressed in a dark dress with a white peasant scarf. The important point here is that these classroom images are NOT part of the winter program. Unfortunately, some misinformed persons believe the Dodgeville School District has, “replaced Christ with a Christmas Witch.” This is not true. It is extremely unfortunate that individuals believe what they read on the internet without first verifying the facts.

According to the Liberty Counsel, a Florida based legal organization that advocates for “religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and the traditional family,” they received complaints from “concerned parents” in our school district. The Liberty Counsel, which is endorsed by Reverend Jerry Falwell, submitted an article to WorldNetDaily.com alleging the above misinformation. Once released on the internet and then on talk shows, the story has become further distorted as people offer opinions on the distortions. Most recently, Pat Robertson weighed in on this subject on his television broadcast. It is further disappointing that none of these parties have investigated and verified facts before issuing statements and threats of a federal lawsuit if the district does not alter its program.

We want our parents and district residents to know, contrary to allegations, the District does include Christian and other religious music in its music curriculum and also in its programs, in compliance with our district policies. Administrators have explained this to the concerned parent and in its press release to national and local media. The press release is also posted on the District website under “News and Information.”

Despite what you may read on the internet or hear on talk shows wherein individuals offer opinions, vent their wrath, and denigrate the school district and the people of Dodgeville, Ridgeway, and Wisconsin in general because of their misperceptions, we here know the facts central to this issue. We respect the beliefs of all of our families.

Please be assured that due to the tone of the literally thousands of emails and voice messages being received, the District is proactively setting in place safety and security procedures. Although NO direct threats have been made, some of the mail has vague innuendo and warrants prudent precautions. For this reason the District is offering admission tickets to the DES and RES performances for family and community members only. If you are a parent or community member who has not received information about the tickets and would like to attend, please contact your elementary school.

We are dedicated to providing a quality educational experience for the children of our communities. Thank for your continued support.

Sincerely yours,

Diane Messer
District Administrator

At the time I commented on this, I said that "Ridgeway Elementary School in Ridgeway, Wisconsin, is definitely a contender for the award for the most blatant example of the bastardization of Christmas."

I went on to say:

"I have no problem with the children learning about the traditions, religious and secular, of various cultures.

"What's disturbing is that Christianity is banned from the decorations and the program.

"If the school intends to be inclusive, why is it excluding any images or songs related to Christmas?"


Clearly, Ridgeway Elementary School is being inclusive. Christianity is not being banned from the winter program. References to the celebration of Christmas are not prohibited in the classroom.

I, for one, came out against them before the district issued the press release, when the school was in "no comment" mode. Until yesterday, I was not aware of the district's statement.

I regret that I did not learn Ridgeway's side of the story, the truth of the matter, until now. I regret that my opinions were not grounded in fact.

If I had e-mailed or called the school to object about the supposed hostility being directed at Christian students (I didn't), I would send another e-mail or call again to apologize.

This story did get a lot of national attention. As it turns out, most of that attention was a complete misrepresentation of the facts regarding the school's program and policies.

Instead of being a "contender for the award for the most blatant example of the bastardization of Christmas," I think Ridgeway Elementary School's personnel and the Dodgeville School District deserve recognition for the balance and respect with which they are instructing the children about this season of holidays.