Friends,
Many 5th grade parents have, by now, received an ominous phone call from someone on the Crisis committee letting us know that Mrs. Leonard will not be in on Thursday and Friday. Some of us got no explanation, others got the explanation that Mrs. Leonard is perhaps exhausted or tired and needed a rest. For some of us, the fact that the Crisis committee was making the call was a sign that something was amiss. Indeed, something was.
As this mailing is going out to some people who didn't receive my mailing last night, I will reprint the song Mrs. Leonard's handed out to the children in her class at the end of this letter. At least one parent contacted Mrs. Leonard and asked her to please collect this song from the children as it seemed inappropriate. In last night's email, I distributed the song to other parents of the class so that they might be aware of the material that was given to their children and make their own decision about its appropriateness. I also directed the letter to Ed Eadon, some faculty members, college members and board members.
It turns out that today, Mrs. Leonard chose to SING the song to the children in her class. I can't imagine what would compel her to do this - defiance, perhaps, or another case of poor judgement on her part, but in any case, clearly she had yet another opportunity to pause before exposing our children to this material and chose not to, this time after having received objections from some of the parents. I believe she willfully and arrogantly exposed our children to this material.
I try to have an open mind about most things but I find the contents and tone of the song below disturbing especially in light of the recent issues involving Mrs. Leonard's reading of other inappropriate material to the children of her class. While these types of songs were, perhaps, acceptable in the 19th century, they certainly don't have a place in schools of today. This particular song introduces themes of male dominance over women through violence and murder and the mutilation and dismemberment of a woman's body. I find it distressing that these are similar themes to the ones contained in the material for which Mrs. Leonard was supposedly reprimanded recently.
Highland Hall has had ample and repeated opportunities to take action regarding this issue. Instead they continue to characterize Mrs. Leonard's regular behavior as "atypical". The only thing that would be "atypical" in this case would be if Highland Hall admitted openly that they have made a mistake and terminated Mrs. Leonard. For that would be the right thing to do, and for Highland Hall, doing the right thing, the thing that puts the children above all else, is behavior that, sadly, is "atypical".
I pray for Mrs. Leonard and hope she gets the help she so desperately needs.
Pete Karaiskos
Here are the lyrics to the song Mrs. Leonard sang to our children today:
It was early one morning in the month of May
Oh the wind and the rain
Two lovers went walking on a hot summer's day
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He said to the lady "won't you marry me"
Oh the wind and the rain
"And my little wife you'll always be"
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
Then he knocked her down and he kicked her around
Oh the wind and the rain
Then he knocked her down and he kicked her around
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He hit her in the head with a battering ram
Oh the wind and the rain
He hit her in the head with a battering ram
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He threw her in the river to drown
Oh the wind and the rain
He threw her in the river to drown
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He watched her as she floated down
Oh the wind and the rain
He watched her as she floated down
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
She floated on down to the miller's millstream
Oh the wind and the rain
He watched her as she floated down
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
The miller fished her out with a long fishing pole
Oh the wind and the rain
The miller fished her out with a long fishing pole
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
Oh the wind and the rain
He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
He made a fiddle bow of her long curly hair
Oh the wind and the rain
He made a fiddle bow of her long curly hair
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
The only tune that fiddle would play was
Oh the wind and the rain
The only tune that fiddle would play was
A crying the dreadful wind and rain
