PART 2
Truth in QUALITY of light
THE TRANSPARENCY SERIES
An Introduction
The Transparency Series
PEOPLE – LANGUAGE – VISION of 833 South Washington County Schools What does it mean to be transparent? I use the illustration of A GARDEN GREENHOUSE. For the purposes of this series, the greenhouse represents a school district’s function in its community, the policy and procedure it establishes to achieve that function, and its ability to communicate that process transparently out to the community.
"Achievement and Integration"
THE CULTURAL FOUNDATION OF EXCELLENCE TODAY inside South Washington County School District 833
A Five Part Series
PART 1
The District’s Pathway to Equity
“Achievement & Integration” DEFINED
PART 2
Truth in QUALITY of Light
“Achievement & Integration” SPEECH
PART 3
FORCE against the Family
Achievement & Integration” SOCIAL
PART 4
Is this the WORLD’S BEST?
“Achievement & Integration” RESULTS
PART 5
Unquenchable THIRST
( Coming Soon )
In the garden GREENSHOUSE of the transparency series,
the quality of light is just as important as the glass house and the plant growing inside it. The light will represent TRUTH here, but the question is: What kind of truth (light) does the public school system speak into its little seedlings?
Dear Reader,
For those of you with kids in the public school, you have seen the changes happening gradually. Now the changes are fast and furious though and it can be difficult to keep up.
For those of you without kids in the public school, maybe you are hearing about the changes second hand. Maybe you are a homeschooling parent. Maybe you are a private school parent or maybe you are a grandparent who graduated from District 833. Maybe you left the public school and are busy focusing on your child and their new path forward.
I know many people who, after leaving the public school, wipe their hands clean of all the trouble and rarely look back. I have a greater appreciation for the private schools my kids now attend because I have seen the other side. I KNOW first hand what I left behind in public school, and I know first hand what we are gaining at our new Christian Private Schools.
But I can’t wipe my hands clean of the past. I can’t leave the public school and never look back because it is SO important for us to SEE what is happening there and save those who can be saved.
I hope this article and this Transparency Series brings LIGHT to the stories you have lived, heard, or read. We are in this together. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
JAiME KOKAiSEL
author and designer of JAiME for SCHOOLS
SPEECH in District 833
EXAMPLE - POLICY
Here we will look at FIVE ways Achievement & Integration is SPOKEN in District 833 and the school board policy that backs it up.
- Student Classwork
- School Building Hallways
- Teacher Training
- Official Meeting Acknowledgement
- Committees and Advisory Groups
1. Student Classwork
The following classwork was shared with me by a student at Park High School in Cottage Grove MN. The unit of study was “Microaggressions,” and her classwork looks VERY different from anything her mom learned from Park High School just two decades prior.
Unit Study on Microaggressions
The subject matter for this unit is about war-torn countries in poverty and the need for suffering people to immigrate to safety. The common theme appears to be one that supports illegal immigration and points blame on anyone in the “dominant class” who might deny anyone in the “subordinate class” their due justice under EQUITY. This blame game is called a microaggression on the part of anyone in the dominant class.
Students were introduced to this unit on the smart board by defining the dominant class and then watching a series of classroom videos by reliable and trusted news sources such as MTV and The Guardian. The students were then given a list of graphic novels to choose from in class. This list did not go home for parents to see, nor did any of the classwork you will see here. You will see at the end of this article the letter that DID go home for parents to see.
Lessons in Dominance and oppression
In Honors English, this Sophomore at Park High School was instructed by her teacher to define one class of people as dominant and all the others as subordinate.
Lessons in Racism
In this 4 minute video, Rapper Akala begins by saying that racism is a business. He talks about his experience growing up with “everyday racism” and blames this on the “white norm.”
Lessons in white & black
In this MTV video, non-white people make fun of white people for the ways in which white people fail in their attempt to connect with non-white people.
Lessons in Illegal immigration
This Honors English “Choice Reading” unit on Microaggressions has a list of 24 graphic novels. I took some time over Christmas break to read a couple of the books on this list. Most are written at a Middle School reading level and would not challenge the average Sophomore HONORS ENGLISH student. In fact, this list might even make them doubt their intelligence. I did find a handful of books on this list that pack a very powerful message, but to build an entire Honors English unit around microaggressions is not productive. It is destructive and politically motivated.
It is worth noting that the teacher of this Honors English 10 student is a teachers’ union building representative (UTSWC). I would hope this lesson was the exception to the norm rather than the standard in SoWashCo, but my experience with units like this tells me otherwise. Not all English teachers in a district or in a school will use the same reading list, so this is just one example.
Dozens of other quality pieces of literature come to mind for the rich study of diverse multi-cultural perspectives, but THESE books ? … I’m sorry but some turn their own culture into a joke. Take the very fist book on the list, for instance …
Lessons in Microaggression
“American Born Chinese.” It is crass and vulgar and rude, and when I think of my Chinese friends, this book would make them livid! I am disturbed that the school promotes a book like this which mocks Biblical prophesy and turns Christianity into hokus pokus. Meanwhile they have removed books with GOOD Christian morals from the curriculum, like “How to Kill a Mockingbird,” and replaced them with graphic novels like “American Born Chinese”.
Our children are smarter than this! They are fully capable of reading 50K+ word count novels at this age. American Born Chinese took me less than one hour to read from cover to cover.
JUST FOR CONTEXT, the tenth graders at my sons new private school, Concordia Academy High School, are reading books like Sophocles Antigone and Fahrenheit 451, then writing four page essays about unjust laws, rebellious armies, death by conviction, refused burial, consequences, arrogance, pride, power, forbidden books, and the depressive state of living in an alternate TV screen reality.
Connection to District defined speech:
Policy 102.1 Racial Equity and Inclusion
adopted by the school board on August 26, 2021 defines what SPEECH means in the context of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion under Achievement and Integration. (Link to the Policy HERE)
"Speech"
HATE SPEECH : speech that lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value and: (1) disparages or demeans a person or group based on protected class status; (2) targets a person or group based on protected class status; or (3) threatens or harasses a person or group based on protected class status.
SPEECH : any form or expression that is intended to convey a particular message and is likely to be understood by those who view it or hear it. Speech can take many forms. Examples include, but are not limited to, written, verbal, and electronic words, statements, or expressions; images and graphic representations; messages on clothing, jewelry, and buttons; and posts on social media platforms.
GOVERNMENT SPEECH : speech or expression by or on behalf of a governmental entity, including a public school district. In determining whether speech is “government speech,” courts consider: (1) whether the governmental entity established the message; and (2) whether the governmental entity exercises control over the content and dissemination of the message.
I REQUEST at this time for the District to please consider reintroducing some of the classic literature with positive Christian messages. All other religions are being lifted up and praised in the public school classroom while the Christian religion is being eliminated and/or made fun of. This is not a request for you to advocate the teaching of Christian Theology. This is simply a request to give Christians equal respect in the classroom dialogue and curriculum.
2. School Building Hallways
The following posters were shared with me by friends and parents in the district who took these photos while they were voting in 2021 or attending conferences.
GOVERNMENT SPEECH
Established and controlled by District 833
Lessons in LGBT microaggressions
Posters began showing up in school hallways across the district after approval of the Racial Equity RESOLUTION in Nov. 2020. The pride flag didn’t show up with the others at first, but by 2022 it was in every single school from Elementary to High. This was taken by a voter in Nov. 2022.
We see drastic changes happening inside our public schools. We see curriculum changing, books changing, homework changing. We see a school district openly embracing radical liberal left policies and highly controversial revolutionary social education. The emphasis is on SOCIAL learning, not CHILDREN learning.
JUST FOR CONTEXT, the elementary and middle schoolers at my daughter’s new private school, North Heights Christian Academy, are greeted by uplifting student artwork in the halls that inspires them to reach high and be the very best they can be academically and morally.
Connection to District Resolution:
Resolution
Supporting Racial Equity and that Black Lives Matter
This document can be found under District 833 School Board Meetings. PDF is in the November 19th, 2020 meeting file. Link to School Board Meetings HERE.
3. Teacher Training
Leading up to the Racial Equity RESOLUTION, the School Board was presented with the District’s Racial Equity VISION on November 5, 2020. This included staff development training videos.
"Not a Moment, It's the Movement"
There is a lot that can be learned at a school board meeting presentation. These slides are an overview of the Professional Development we, as taxpayers, are forced to fund.
Behavior Modification
As more and more students are misbehaving in the classroom, the district’s solution is Culturally Responsive Teaching (aka social engineering).
Lessons in cancel culture
2020 was a time when social media accounts across the country were being shut down, website platform providers were cancelling the membership of conservative journalists, documentaries were being banned, and the information that was posted online one day would disappear the next.
In early 2021, I began to wake up. I began to pay very close attention to what the Superintendent was saying and what she was doing. I began looking for patterns and asking a lot of questions.
I felt it necessary to take screenshots of everything I found online, and District communication was one of them. I am so glad I did because my premonition turned out to be correct.
Soon after Supt. Nielsen replace Supt.Jacobus, the website went through a major redesign, and many links went missing. Quite a bit has slowly been added back into the website, and I am grateful for that, but access to staff updates entirely disappeared. Poof! Now, the only way to access District Staff communication is through a password protected portal.
These are the screenshots I took of Staff Updates on April 18th, 2021. (No link available since they have been removed.)
JUST FOR CONTEXT, it was at this time of school walkouts and protests that I realized the public school had no intention of returning back to learning as normal.
Connection to District Strategy:
District 833
Achievement and Integration
Strategy
Submitted to MDE effective July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023
Link to document HERE
I REQUEST at this time for the District to please consider reintroducing public access to staff news and training. Parents are not allowed in the secondary classroom, that I am aware of. Students are not allowed to record classroom lessons, videos or class work. Allowing parents to see district communication with staff seems like the very least that could be done out of transparency.
4. Official Meeting Acknowledgement
The
Lessons in property rights
“We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the land of the Mdewakanton (Mid-ah-wah-kah-ton) Dakota people. Mdewakanton means, “dwellers of the spirit lake.”
Link to School Board Meeting HERE
Connection to District Policy:
District 833
Racial Equity and Inclusion POLICY
102.1 Racial Equity and Inclusion Policy requires that the land acknowledgement occurs at School Board meetings, district committee/advisory meetings and other district gatherings.
Adopted August 26th, 2021
Link to the Policy HERE
Connection to MDE State Statute:
I REQUEST at this time for the District to please consider relaying the SAME message across ALL stakeholders. This means the teacher informs the parent of the same key talking points as he/she instructs the students about. This means the district provides a clear snapshot (possibly like I attempted to do in A&I DEFINED just prior to this and the one coming soon) of the entire A&I process that flows from state legislature to school district to educator to student.
This is the letter that was given to the parents in #1 Student Classwork.
Instead of classic literature, High School Sophomores are reading graphic novels. The teacher explains in her letter home to parents that graphic novels are a useful tool to engage reluctant readers.
owhere in this letter were microaggressions addressed. Nowhere in this letter is “white norm” mentioned. Nowhere in this letter was the book list included. A book list would have demonstrated transparency between the school and the family, but instead this student took a picture in class to show her mom.
Through A&I, the government school system is replacing the “natural” with the “unnatural.”
It is not unlike the man made engineering of industrial greenhouses where plants are grown under lamps. The head turns toward the light in the same way as the sunflower turns toward the sun. No man made greenhouse grown under bulbs can replace nature. A plant growing under the sun, in its native soil, evolving through the environmental seasons of life is the ideal growing condition for it. All man made efforts outside of that are purely an attempt to replace the “natural” with the “unnatural”.
The danger of the unnatural is not so much that it IS, but more so that it is UNKNOWN.
When the unnatural is taught to BE the natural, who is the wiser? Who thrives? Who suffers?
As a culture, I think we are on this dangerous edge of knowing and yet NOT knowing what is natural.
The small, local, home-grown garden greenhouse is most often powered by the sun. Some gardeners might expand into the use of sun lamps as a complimentary tool, but sun rays remain the primary source of light.
The SUN LIGHT is natural truth.
For the most part, the small local school models – such as home and private schools – teach natural truths. This includes truths like how to LOVE thy neighbor, RESPECT the family unit, ESTABLISH safe boundaries, GUIDE young boys to become men, and NURTURE young girls to become women. Just like the home greenhouse, some might expand into the use of unnatural truths as a complimentary lesson, but natural truth remains their foundation. The localized effort is what makes this easier.
Government Schools are capable of teaching natural truths as well, but that requires a very connected community, and a very large network, to bring (and keep) them in the sunlight.
Employees within the large Government schools have the least amount of control in teaching natural truth. This is because higher powers at the district, state, national, and global level are always at work micromanaging the local effort. Those higher powers have banned speaking spiritual truth in public schools and have replaced it with their own man-made spiritual brand: Achievement and Integration.
Natural truth equals spiritual truth equals a whole human being.
The large industrial greenhouses may use a combination of bulb light AND sun light. Or they may use exclusively light bulbs/lamps.
The LIGHT BULB is unnatural truth.
It was created by man, and it is a great invention, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is not found in nature. It was inspired by nature.
Likewise for the most part, the large state public school models teach unnatural truths. This includes the man-made constructs of “media” truth, “cultural” truth, “social” truths, and living “your” truth through the spiritual lense of secularism.
Though government school leaders have more hoops to jump through when delivering natural truth to their students, they also have the GREATEST REPONSIBILITY and CAPABILITY to flip negative cultural influences around!
They can say “No!”
No, we will not contribute to the mental and moral decay of all things “social”. No, we will not pile the heavy burden of mature content and historical wrongs onto our little children without first giving them a strong foundation of natural truth. The time for growing roots is K-12. Children have just a small window of innocence before they DO have to grow up to solve the problems created generations before their time.
The time will surely come for kids to grow up, but this is NOT the age to be putting a shovel in their hands to tear up the garden when they do not understand the difference between a WEED and a PLANT.
District 833 has the ability to protect children from the influences of dishonest unnatural truths. How is it that the doors are wide open to the social entertainment industry and yet they are double, triple and quadruple locked to the parent?
CNN – MTV – Disney – MPR – BLM
The public school has turned into SOCIAL-izing SCHOOL. We will take a look at culture and politics next.
by JAiME for SCHOOLS December 31st, 2022 (updated January 1st, 2023)
Like this article?
The Transparency Series
PEOPLE – LANGUAGE – VISION of South Washington County Schools District 833. What does it mean to be transparent? I use the illustration of A GARDEN GREENHOUSE. For the purposes of this series, the greenhouse represents a school district’s function in the community it serves, the policy and procedure it establishes to achieve that function, and its ability to communicate that process transparently out to the people who fund it.
December 4, 2022
EQUITY
I would like to speak : to my School Board Members
