As a parent of one of Mr. Hunt”s former students, I am simply astonished at his wholesale mud-slinging and condemnation of the students and administrators of Lower Lake High School (Speak your mind, Wednesday, June 28). Although Mr. Hunt seems to be casting himself as an advocate for education, his actions during the school year prove the opposite.
One part of Mr. Hunt”s letter rings true. His attitude is consistent. As an instructor, he showed little respect for his students and even less for parents who tried to contact him in order to discuss their child”s progress.
Any instructor who holds his students in such obvious and indiscriminate contempt has no business being in a classroom. That schools in Lake County have problems is an unfortunate truth. That teachers, administrators, and parents are all working to improve the schools is also true.
Each teacher in a child”s school career holds the responsibility of preparing that child for the next stage in their education. Mr. Hunt, therefore, should have been preparing his students to succeed in college classes. Instead, he passively sat back, allowing his class to default to the lowest common denominator in behavior and academic standards. Now that his monumental failure is obvious to the most casual observer, he is wildly casting blame in any direction but his own.
Teachers are an important social and instructional example to their students. Mr. Hunt is a prime example to his students only by showing them what an adult should never be 9 he is disrespectful of students, teachers, parents, administrators and the community at large.
As far as Mr. Hunt”s snarky little comment about the world not needing any more potters, he is apparently (and unsurprisingly) unaware that colleges and universities are requiring applicants to show a broad range of interest and involvement in classes and activities. Science majors, for example, are encouraged to take classes outside their discipline; to expand their education to include art, drama, poetry and other liberal arts classes. All college students are encouraged to participate in extracurricular sports.
I would hate to think that Mr. Hunt”s “pottery” remark is a sneaky attack on Frank Turdici, Konocti Unified School District”s Teacher of the Year. Mr. Turdici, who has experience teaching at the high school and college level as well as accepting students of all ages in his night school and summer classes, has been a constant positive influence for all students in over two decades of teaching. Mr. Turdici realizes that his subject is more than mushing clay into some sort of shape. He works steadily to help each student discover more about themselves as they learn to express themselves through art. If Mr. Hunt had the same talent and dedication, his students could have expanded their knowledge of science as well as learning ways to explore and satisfy their natural curiosity.
As it is, Mr. Hunt seems to be a man lost in time. His attitude and opinions belong in Dickensian schools. I”m certain that he would enjoy teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and carrying a paddle to swat any student who shows initiative, creativity or a desire for challenging lessons.
In his letter, Mr. Hunt asserts that a teacher”s word should be considered “gold,” implying that the teacher”s version of any incident be believed under all circumstances, whether or not he can produce any proof or supporting evidence. Given our experiences with Mr. Hunt, as well as his actions in public, I can only observe that you can spray-paint a cow chip gold, but all you”ll have is fancy manure.
