Peyton, Colorado (The Weekly Vice) -- Michael AuClaire, the principal of Peyton Elementary School in Peyton, Colorado has apologized to parents, teachers and students after requiring elementary school students to look into a bag that contained human feces and urine.
A "stink" was raised this week in the tiny community of Peyton, Colorado when elementary school principal, Michael AuClaire, used an unusual method to teach students proper bathroom behavior and hygiene.
Principal AuClaire led 4th and 5th grade students into the girl's bathroom on Monday and then required them to look into a brown paper bag containing human waste. Students who witnessed the 'lesson' say they were told to hold their noses and look inside the bag.
AuClaire explained that he did it to teach students a lesson about the kind of messes the janitorial staff were forced to deal with in the bathrooms of the school. He explained that his intention was to help children understand that it is inappropriate to defecate on the floor and toilet seats.
Parents began to express outrage over the incident, prompting the principal to send letters home with students apologizing for what AuClaire admitted was "a mistake". AuClaire also invited parents to meet with him to discuss the situation and determine if he should continue as the school's principal.
Approximately 60 parents, students and teachers attended the meeting, however the group's discussion took an interesting turn that likely surprised the new Principal.
Instead of lashing out at the principal for his handling of the situation, parents insisted to each other that correcting their children's bathroom habits was the correct solution, instead of running off the principal who was trying to deal with the problem.
As the meeting concluded, parents and students both asked the principal to stay, declaring with misty eyes their support, respect and admiration for AuClaire.
One parent shared that AuClaire took a school yearbook home and made a commitment to learn the name of every student before beginning his job as the school's principal. Many parents vigorously defended AuClaire, and instead focused on the health risks associated with bad bathroom hygiene. One student told adults at the meeting that she wouldn't go to the school if they were to "loose him" while another student broke into tears over the prospect.
At meeting end, parents and students decided that although the brown bag lesson wasn't appropriate, they would rather address the problem than lose a principal a majority of the community supports. On this day, it's safe to say students and parents taught the principal a lesson.
When a school truly empowers families to make decisions about school problems, "outrage" is transformed into opportunities and "issues" are converted to understanding.
The Weekly Vice Opinion:
This is precisely what I love about small town America. A school principals decision on how to handle the situation really sort of "stunk". But when parents showed up to discuss the matter, they took responsibility for the issue instead of just throwing daggers at the principal.
Many communities would have called for a quick beheading, or at least a thorough flogging.
I applaud this community - who from a tiny little town in eastern Colorado, turned a stinky situation into sweet success. We're curious though. Who on earth had the task of creating that bag to begin with? They might need some counseling.
Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice
http://www.theweeklyvice.com
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1 comments:
I dunno.... This method seems a bit weird. At his age and being an experienced administrator,I would think he would've come up with a better method. If there was a problem with feces and urine on the toilets,it would seem more appropriate to just show the students the result of such wanton disregard (a sullied toilet). It just goes to show you that the American public will shower you with affection and will stick to you like glue if you hand them a bag of shit. I too must wonder,where the source of the contents of the bag came from. That must have been a strange assignment...to say the least. Let's hope this administrator doesn't have a fetish for defecation....But, anything is possible.. Be that as it may however, in regard to this particular thread,I must disagree with our host.
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