Teachers are supposed to encourage critical thought and creativity in young minds, but some instructors at Vermont’s Walden School don’t seem to agree.
Chip Chaffee, a 13-year-old at the school, was enthusiastic to learn about his narrative writing project. He threw himself into the project, merging his interpretation of current events with firsthand historical accounts of military experience shared with him by his father and grandfather.
Chip was proud of the product, and by all accounts writing the story had been a rich learning experience for a youngster fascinated with current events and American foreign policy. Yet his teacher refused to accept the story because it contained violence.
The teacher, Kendra Armitage, is listed on the school website as a fan of organic bananas who is proud of her work “protest[ing] against clear cutting the redwoods in California.” Maybe Ms. Armitage should stop discriminating against her students based on the filter of her own political beliefs and instead focus on developing the intellect of her students.