Calvin Terrell defending his "warrior" philosophy to a packed meeting of unhappy parents
In the wake of the Newtown/Sandy Hook tragedy you would think a public speaker addressing children in a forced school assembly would be careful about conjuring up images for such an impressionable audience to contemplate: like that of a beloved five-year-old being shot in the head, with the resulting damage so great the wake is closed casket.
Or the other adult person you love, also involved in this hypothetical active shooter scenario, ending up dead from gunfire as well.
What any of this has to do with improving racial harmony I'm not overly sure. Neither were the traumatized kids who heard this explicit speaker, Calvin Terrell, doing his shtick yesterday morning at Amherst Regional Middle School. Even scarier, he prefaced his performance by saying this would be his "5th grade presentation".
School officials had to make counselors available all day yesterday and plan to do so today as well.
ARMS Principal Marisa Mendonsa addresses standing room only crowd of upset parents
At a contentious "coffee with the principal" this morning at ARMS attended by almost 50 parents -- 90% of them displeased with yesterday's performance -- Mr. Terrell apologized for his graphic presentation.
School Principal Marisa Mendonsa apologized for not making sure "parental notification" went out the day before, warning about the potentially upsetting nature of the graphic talk.
Numerous parents used the term "inappropriate", with one going so far as to brand it, "totally irresponsible, it was horrible!" When Terrell likened himself to Santa Claus, an angry parent shot back: "You were not Santa Claus, you were the Grim Reaper."
One parent confirmed his child had to leave the assembly that morning to find a bathroom and then threw up.
Terrell defended his invocation of the Sandy Hook horror by comparing the universal devastation brought on nationwide by that tragedy, yet people don't get upset when millions die in the Congo.
Kind of like saying 9/11 was not such a big deal because only 3,000 died vs the 10,000 who die annually via drunk drivers or 400,000 who die from cigarettes.
Other parents were upset with his use of the word "retard" when describing an incident of bullying. Of course one parent wondered if he would be so quick to have used the "N-word" in such a scenario.
Talib Sadiq, Climate Coordinator and Principal Mendonsa stand before parents
While the presentation yesterday morning was not filmed, school officials confirmed that Mr. Terrell will redo his performance next Thursday night at the Middle School so parents can get a taste of what their children endured for two hours.
Better yet, he should simply be terminated from his $38,000 contract. Now!
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