A is for Awesome

Awesome = my job = Wednesday of this week

Wednesday was community curriculum day at the school. A topic was chosen, in this case Campaign '08, and the whole school (faculty + staff included) participated in assemblies and workshops and discussions on that topic. First guest speaker was Karen Sautter, the Northeast Regional Vice Chair for the Young Republicans. The last guest speaker was Vanessa Kerry, Board Member for the Young Democrats and John Kerry's daughter. What two very interesting and opposing view points, speech styles, and ideas these two people expressed. The girls were all eager to ask as many questions as they could and I was shocked at the depth and intelligence of the questions. How many people can say they see REAL LEARNING and CRITICAL THINKING happening at their school? I hope many people, but my heart tells me probably not many.

At one point, Karen Sautter was asked about her stance on abortion. She said she is pro-life as is McCain because as a party, the Republicans have decided that the unborn baby needs an advocate and that an unborn child's rights need to be heard and represented. She also said that women who have had abortions suffer more health problems later. I was surprised at this statement and surprised that she did not go on to qualify where that statement came from. Just threw it out there, a statement of fear to a crowd of impressionable young women. I attempted to ask her to back this statement up during the Q & A session, but unfortunately was not called on. Later, when Vanessa Kerry was up, I again attempted to ask her since she also has a medical degree, but again, my attempts were thwarted when the session ran out of time. I was so frustrated to not have been able to discuss that statement further with the entire student body. On my own, I talked to Vanessa and she said that statement could be taken to mean ANYTHING, but at its face value, it was not true. Women do not suffer any permanent side effects or later health problems after having a safe, legal, and doctor administered abortion. To settle this, I've contacted Karen via facebook since this was the only means I could find of contacting her directly. We'll see what she says in response.

Sandwiched between the two parties were a bunch of workshops. I sat in on "Campaign 2008 and the New Media." Let me tell you, I felt like a proud parent listening to these girls answer some questions on the effects of YouTube and other new media. They were saying things I WOULD say. I just sat back and basked in the hope I felt these young women represent for the future.