Fox River Grove Middle School Teacher Ousted from School
The Northwest Herald and CBS 2 Chicago websites reported that Dave Warwak, art teacher in the Fox River Grove Middle School, was removed from the school by Dr. Krause and Dr. Mahaffy for espousing views promoting a Vegan lifestyle and denouncing cruelty to animals.
According to the reports, Warwak refused to comply when Dr. Krause and Dr. Mahaffy asked him to stop distributing literature and discussing his viewpoints on vegan living and animal cruelty.
For now, Warwak is still employed by District 3, though no further comment was given by the Administration or members of the Board.
Labels: Fox River Grove, School District 3, schools
posted by Steve Pickering @ 11:09 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Text of letter from PETA to Dr. Mahaffy:
September 7, 2007
Tim Mahaffy, Principal
Fox River Grove Middle School
1 page via fax: 847-516-9169
Dear Mr. Mahaffy,
On behalf of PETA and our more than 1.6 million members and supporters, I'm writing to express concern over the recent disciplinary actions taken against Dave Warwak, an art teacher at your school. According to news reports, Mr. Warwak was disciplined for informing children about the cruelty of the meat industry and the enormous health benefits of going vegetarian.
It's a sad day when a teacher is punished for telling students the truth: that by going vegetarian, they will dramatically improve their health while saving animals from cruelty so extreme that it would warrant felony cruelty-to-animals charges in the state of Illinois if the victims were dogs and cats rather than chickens, pigs, and cows. In a time of growing violence in schools, a teacher who is bringing a message of compassion should be applauded, not punished. Students in every school should have teachers like Mr. Warwak to tell them that the "chicken nuggets" they consume in the cafeteria were once living, breathing animals who were crammed into filthy sheds and pumped full of drugs before having their throats slit while they're still conscious.
Mr. Warwak was also apparently distributing copies of John Robbins' book The Food Revolution, which documents not only the cruelty of the meat industry but also the environmental and health benefits of a vegetarian diet. In these days of skyrocketing childhood obesity, we hope that Mr. Warwak's students will take the book's message to heart: According to the American Dietetic Association, a vegan diet is appropriate for all ages and vegans have lower rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity than meat-eaters do.
If you agree to allow Mr. Warwak to continue to discuss these important issues, PETA would be happy to donate "Compassion Care Packages" to every one of his students. These packages include a copy of The Food Revolution, a "Meet Your Meat" DVD (a factory farm expose viewable at Meat.org), and our free "Vegetarian Starter Kit" (downloadable at GoVeg.com).
Please let me know of your decision. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Bruce Friedrich
Vice President
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Steve's note: Nothing unexpected here. It goes right with the kinds of comments I've been reading on the web. People outside the district seem focused on the merits of Mr. Warwak's message, whereas people who live in Fox River Grove seem to be more focused on the real issue, of what is appropriate behavior for a teacher in a classroom, and whether or not unapproved materials should be distributed to students.
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