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On September 20, a Washington Island, WI teacher decapitated a chicken
with a hatchet in front of his 7th and 8th graders on school property.
The teacher, Steve Waldron, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette his killing
was "a vivid and dramatic way of making the connection between the way
we get our food and the fact that things [sic] die for us to get food."
He said it got kids "to think about how the animal is treated before it
[sic] ends up on their plate." He said his killing was "part of
coursework intended to spell out the differences between the way
chickens and other animals are raised and butchered on family farms
versus large industrial farms."
Larry Kahlscheuer, the Washington Island School Board President, told
the newspaper the hatchet did not qualify as a weapon, except "in the
sense that a screwdriver or a hammer might." He said he knows of "no
[school] district rule against killing for instructional purposes." He
said Steve Waldron was "someone who knows how to deal with life and
death in a most respectful manner."
The killing of the chicken led parent Kelly Jorgenson to tell the school
"if "killing is allowed on school grounds, we're pulling our kids out."
Please write today to the Washington Island School Superintendent, the
School Board President, and the head of the Wisconsin Department of
Public Instruction. Urge that a written policy be formulated and
implemented at both state and school district levels prohibiting the
instructional killing of animals. Urge administrators to develop courses
in compassion and respect for animals. Explain you do not want teachers
dealing self-serving death to healthy animals and calling it
"respectful." State your views politely but firmly, and include the
teacher, Steve Waldron, in your correspondence. Below is contact
information. Request written replies. Send copies of your letters to the
Green Bay Press-Gazette, PO Box 19430, Green Bay, WI 54307, or post your
letter online by going to www.greenbaypressgazette.com. Reporter Peter
Rebhahn can be emailed at prebhahn@greenbaypressgazette.com.
Mr. Steve Waldron, Teacher
Washington Island School
Rt. 1, Box 2
Washington Island, WI 54246
Email: swaldron@island.k12.wi.us
Dr. Susan Churchill-Chastan,
Washington Island School Superintendent
Same mailing address as above.
Phone: 920-847-2507
Mr. Larry Kahlscheurer
Washington Island School Board President
Same mailing address & phone number as above.
Email: lkahlsch@itol.com
Ms. Elizabeth Burmaster
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
125 South Webster
Madison, WI 53702
Ph: 608-266-3390
Toll-free: 1-800-441-4563
To read "Parent protests killing chicken for lesson on where to get
food" by Peter Rebhahn, October 2, 2002, go to:
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_6330787.shtml
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org
(Action Alert - Protest Wisconsin Teacher's Hatcheting of a Chicken in the Schoolyard)
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