South Carolina elementary school apologizes for a leadership event where boys wore ties at a 'summit' and heard from 'male role models from the community' and girls went to a 'retreat' and met with high school cheerleaders

A South Carolina school district is apologizing for the way boys and girls were treated differently at an event about leadership and character for elementary school students.

The Pickens Elementary School in Pickens, South Carolina, came under fire after it posted a series of photos on Facebook from a school event on November 19.

The images showed that the students - third through fifth graders - had been divided up by gender, with boys participating in one set of activities and girls doing another set.

The school gave the boys' event the business-like 'summit' title meant to 'ignite' them

The girls' event was given a softer 'retreat' name and was meant to teach them to 'shine'

At the 'IGNITE boys summit,' the boys, who were seen wearing ties and collared shirts, were largely pictured sitting at their desks while being addressed and interacting with men who were also wearing business-like attire.

The girls participating in the 'SHINE girls retreat,' meanwhile, were predominantly pictured wearing matching red t-shirts, sitting on the floor in the school gym, listening to local high school cheerleaders speak, and writing on signs. 

According to The State, the caption accompanying the Facebook post was: 'Male role models from the community spoke with the boys about leadership and the importance of character. The Pickens Varsity cheer team spoke with the girls about how to work together to help everyone shine.'

A backlash erupted on social media with critics complaining about the differing experiences for boys and girls, as some accused officials of sexism.

At some point, the photo caption was then revised to read: 'Role models from the community and student athletes from Pickens High spoke with students about leadership and character.'

Removing the fact that the middle schoolers had been segregated by gender and reframing the female cheerleaders as 'student athletes' failed to mollify the critics, however. 

'Replacing a sexist caption with a more gender-neutral one, unfortunately, will not magically erase the underlying conceptual fallacy and bias behind this event. You've got to do better by these kids next time,' one Facebook user wrote.

'You can edit the text as much as you want, but as long as you keep the photos, people are going to still know that you are operating in a sexist vacuum from yesteryear,' wrote another Facebook user, a father whose children were in the same school district.

The dad went on to point out the fact that the boys' event was called a leadership 'summit,' while the girls' event had been a 'retreat' about working together and shining.

'It is 2019, and as a public education system, you need to pay more attention to the public, and how the world has evolved,' he wrote. 'That includes enlightening yourselves on contemporary issues of gender, equity, diversity, and inclusion.'

The school district has now apologized for the 'format' of the gender-divided character development event.

A spokesperson for the Pickens County school district told The State that the events were meant to empower students.

'We will reflect on the concerns that members of our community have expressed about the format of this event to ensure that future events at all schools send a message of inclusion and equality,' the spokesperson said in a statement to the newspaper.

The spokesperson added that the school district takes 'these concerns seriously.'

'It was not the school or district’s intent to send a message that students must display different character traits or pursue different career goals based on their gender, but it is clear that this is the message that was sent as a result of some of the differences in the programs, and we apologize,' the statement concluded.

Regarding the sartorial difference between the boys and girls, the spokesperson said the Pickens Elementary School had picked what the boys would wear, while the girls were given a survey which showed that the majority wanted to dress casually.

Social media users who supported the school's decisions pointed out that in addition to the high school cheerleaders, the elementary school girls also hosted two female police officers and an English teacher with a PhD.

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Law students at Washington & Lee University campaign to have portraits of George Washington and Robert E. Lee removed from diplomas because people may find the slaveholders 'controversial or offensive'
Students at a Virginia law school are asking the administration to remove portraits of 'controversial' figures George Washington and Robert E. Lee from their graduation diplomas.

Current students as well as some alumni and staff at the Washington & Lee University School of Law are circulating a petition to allow graduates the option of omitting pictures of the university's namesakes.

The men's legacies as slaveowners, and Lee's role as a general in the Confederacy during the Civil War, has made them increasingly controversial figures in recent years.

And the petition's statement reads: 'Given the aftermath of the 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville and the heightened awareness of making Washington & Lee an inclusive and compassionate environment to all students, we believe this request provides alumni the ability to honor their alma mater without the presence of the portraits that some may find controversial or offensive.'

The Washington & Lee campus is some 60 miles from Charlottesville, where white supremacists held a rally in 2017 opposing the removal of a statue of Lee from a city park.

Clashes between the far-right marchers and counter-protesters led to violence. One counter-protestor, Heather Heyer, was killed when a neo-Nazi drove his car into a crowd.

The petition specifies that organizers are not pushing for a 'mandatory' change to all diplomas, but the option for students to do so.

Organizers note that Washington & Lee's diploma design has changed in the past to better represent student requests, like transitioning sheepskin diplomas to paper.  

'The goal of establishing this option is to create a diploma that alumni are proud to prominently display in their homes and places of work,' the statement continues.

Several hundred people have signed the petition thus far.

The controversy surrounding some of America's most well known and debated figures comes from their history as slaveholders.

The university was founded in 1749 as Augusta Academy.

In 1776, it was renamed Liberty Hall.

George Washington awarded the school a large endowment in 1796, one of the biggest ever given to an educational institution in the US, and saving it from insolvency. The university says the gift was so generous that it still pays for a portion of every student's education to this day.

In his honor, the school was renamed Washington College in 1813.

Robert E. Lee became the university's president in 1865 after the end of the Civil War.

The university says that under Lee's instruction, it became a national educational institution, adding journalism and engineering courses, and the law school.

After Lee's death in 1870, the institution was renamed to Washington & Lee University. Lee was buried under the university's Lee Chapel.

Confederate flags were removed from the chapel in 2014 after student protests.

Washington became a slaveowner at the age of 11 and would go on to keep more than a hundred slaves at his Mount Vernon estate.

Upon his death in 1799, Washington freed the 123 individuals he enslaved at his home.

Robert E. Lee's role as a leading commander in the American Civil War, a war that pins the country's racist legacy, has marked him as a controversial historical figure.

The move to remove pictures from school diplomas aren't the first step that students at the university have taken to reduce the prominence of Lee.

In response to the petition, a group called 'The Generals Redoubt' has spoken out against the organizers request.

'The General Redoubt (TGR) strongly disagrees with this petition which seeks to provide an option to remove the likeness of our namesakes George Washington and Robert E. Lee from the law school diploma,' they said in a statement.

'The Generals Redoubt is very concerned with this action which is seemingly supported by several employees of W&L and is concerned that the member of the careers services program does not see the harm in supporting such a petition and apparently failed to advise against such action.'

The General Redoubt says that the petition is  an attempt to upend the university's traditions. They said: 'The petition is a symptom of strong undercurrents within the University to dismantle the traditions, values and history of Washington and Lee.'

'The removal of the likeness of George Washington and Robert E. Lee, which adorns the offices and homes of many of our alumni is a severe affront to the generous and loyal alumni who respect the character and values of our namesakes.'

The General Redoubt says they are 'necessary to bring sanity' in response to the petition.

The debate at Washington & Lee is the latest in a string of American universities being forced to grapple with the historical figures who don their halls.

The University of California, Berkeley School of Law removed benefactor John Henry Boalt from four buildings and other references around campus.

Boalt was removed due to his fierce support of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

Florida State University in Tallahassee has received requests to remove Florida Supreme Court Justice B.K. Roberts from its law school. Roberts resisted integration policies and worked to deny admission of a black student into the once segregated law school.

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Australia: Phonics a recipe for reading progress

Independent schools across NSW have bolstered thousands of students' early literacy skills through an evidence-based explicit phonics program. Data from the program has revealed a substantial lift in the number of first-year primary students mastering the key foundational skill of phonological awareness, which includes the blending of sounds to form words, from 13 per cent at the beginning of 2018 to 84 per cent by the end of the school year.

The word-reading ability of Years 1 and 2 students also improved, with at least three-quarters of them able to read fluently from a selected list of single-syllable words by the end of the year, up from 42 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

The targeted initiative, rolled out to 38 previously underperforming schools across the sector, has so far trained 600 teachers to provide explicit and systematic literacy and numeracy instruction to students.

In the case of literacy, phonemic awareness and phonics, which is the ability to map speech sounds to letter patterns, are considered key components of effective early reading and writing instruction.

Despite research recommending the skills be taught explicitly, systematically and sequentially, many schools continue to preference a "whole language" or "balanced literacy" approach, which emphasises learning whole words and phrases in "meaningful contexts", such as reading a book or a poem, rather than through phonics exercises.

Association of Independent Schools NSW chief executive Geoff Newcombe said the pro-gram was a "resounding success", having benefited more than 6300 students. "The initiative has had an amazing impact on the students and teachers in the schools where it is being implemented," he said. "It ensures K-2 teachers are supported and equipped to teach foundational skills to students who would otherwise struggle."

Participating school St Philip's Christian College in Cessnock has recorded impressive results since introducing an explicit and systematic approach to teaching phonics two years ago. At the K-12 college, which operates in a low socio-economic area, it is not uncommon for students to start school lacking basic early literacy skills. Among the current Year 2 cohort, 80 per cent started kindergarten below the expected level for a five-year-old, with 40 per cent flagged for needing "significant support".

Two years into the new program, almost all of the 80-plus students are performing at expected levels. Its NAPLAN results have also shown sustained improvement, with Year 3 spelling and grammar average scores lifting from below state average in 2017 to at and above average in 2019. "We've seen a massive difference," said principal Darren Cox. "The pace of lessons is a lot quicker, students are focused and on task ... every teacher knows with certainty what they need to deliver and when."

Mr Cox said a similar explicit approach to teaching mathematics had also improved base numeracy skills.

From the "Weekend Australian" of 16/11/19