Quote:
Opinions swirl over 'ridicule'
Kristen Garrett and Larissa Theodore, Times Staff
01/25/2006
BEAVER FALLS - While Beaver Falls High School students and adults from across the country weighed in on what reportedly transpired Friday between a teacher and a high school student who wore a Denver Broncos jersey to class, the people at the center of the controversy have been decidedly tight-lipped.
Joshua Vannoy, 17, of Big Beaver previously said he was ordered to lie on the floor in John Kelly's ethnic relations class Friday while Kelly encouraged students to throw wads of paper at him during a midterm exam, all because he wore a John Elway jersey and Kelly is a Steelers fan. Vannoy said the incident left him feeling "dehumanized."
On Tuesday evening, the teen's father, Brian Vannoy, said he was consulting with lawyers about the incident and was unable to comment. Kelly did not return calls left at home or at school. And Superintendent Donna Nugent and high school Principal Thomas Karczewski could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Others, however, had plenty to say about what might have happened in the classroom. E-mail flooded The Times on Tuesday, coming from area residents and people from New Hampshire to Hawaii and everywhere in between. Several said the incident is "disturbing" and called for Kelly to be fired or at least reprimanded. Others said the matter has been blown out of proportion.
Mary DuClos, a nurse from Manhattan, Kan., said the key issue is that Vannoy was left feeling like less of a person by what he says occurred.
"He (Vannoy) was in an environment in which he should have felt safe, valued and nurtured by an individual entrusted by the state, community, school district and the parents to do just that," DuClos wrote.
"With all the hate and war we have going on in our world, to encourage such behavior is inconceivable," Rose Polk of Highlands Ranch, Colo., wrote in another letter to The Times.
Despite the criticism, Kelly also has supporters who think the Broncos jersey controversy has been blown out of proportion.
Jessica Cleckley, a 2000 graduate of Beaver Falls High School, wrote that she enrolled in every class Kelly taught during her time in the school.
"I learned more from that class (ethnic relations) than all of my years of high school combined," Cleckley said. "I honestly feel there was a lesson behind Mr. Kelly's actions. He is a great man and an astounding teacher. ... He would never try to hurt or 'dehumanize' a student."
After school Tuesday, students said the student body talked about the situation all day.
"I think it was blown out of proportion," sophomore Philip McCargo said. "I had papers thrown at me all the time when I was in that class."
Junior Ruth Andrews agreed. She and the other students cited various examples of students who were singled out to teach everyone a lesson.
Andrews said it might not seem fair, but "discrimination isn't fair."
She said the class is valuable to the students, and the controversy is "making the school and the class look bad."
The students also pointed out that if Vannoy was concerned about his test score, he would have the opportunity to retake the test. Andrews said Kelly has always had a policy that if a student is not happy with his grade, he can take the test again.
Andrews said many students are upset that Kelly could get into trouble. But whether Kelly will be punished is unknown.
School board President Ron Miller wrote in an e-mail to The Times Tuesday that the district "obviously does not condone this type of behavior. This situation will be judiciously investigated and, after all the facts and circumstances are received, the district will take the appropriate action at the appropriate time. All students are entitled to their opinion, and we encourage other students and staff to respect that opinion and position."
"This situation disturbs me greatly," Miller said.
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