The Independent-News, Volume 115, Number 42, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 15 March 1990 — Page 4

- THE INDEPENDENT NEWS - MARCH 15, 1990

4

I EDITORIALS I

A CAN’T WIN SITUATION The John Glenn School Board had to make a decision recently that was a no win situation. They were to be damned if they do and damned if they don’t in the matter. It involved the termination of a teaching contract for a teacher charged with insubordination concerning the corporal punishment restrictions of the school policy. The Board had the responsibility of acting on this situation with Richard Kickbush, a 33 year veteran of the local school system. After a hearing on the matter, it was a unanimous decision of the six Board members who were present at the hearing, to follow the recommendation of the administration and terminate the contract of Mr. Kickbush. One must realize that Mr. Kickbush has been a member of the community for 33 years, married a local girl, his family has gone through school here and he is and has been very involved in various organizations as well as now being the owner of a drive-in restaurant in Walkerton. His ties to the community are very' tight and consequently he has received a tremendous backing and support from the community. For the Board this could not be taken into consideration . . . they were dealing with a teacher who apparently violated the school code for punishment and acted according. Had this been “Joe Jones’’, a third year teacher in the system, probably hardly a word would have been said after termination. We are not in any way judging whether the Board acted right or wrong, whether the charges were just or unjust, or whether the penalty befits the action. This is not our concern at all. The Board, after reviewing the facts, conducting the public hearing, were then forced to act against a very popular member of the community or go against school policy as was presented. They followed the policy which almost certainly was the thing to do. An exception because of who was involved would be no good. Not following policy would put the Board in a poor situation for any future questions that might arise. Whether or not the policy is adequate also is not the question at hand, this policy was probably written and accepted by a Board other than the present Board. We don’t even know if any of the current members could have been involved. A hard decision has been made. There will be further action on this matter as Mr. Kickbush will continue to seek reinstatement as a teacher. The legal methods of such will be followed. It has been a very touchy situation and one that although not popular with a lot of the public and co-workers, was a decision upholding school policy, a decision that had to be hard for the Board to make, but one we all may have to live with and must respect the Board’s decision to follow policy which should be followed by all. We feel very sorry for Mr. Kickbush and hope that in the end, everything will work out well for him either in one way or another. He has been a good member of the community and there are still many roads open for him to follow. We wish him well. RF^EMEMBEIC^ FEW WHEK... J></

1985 Athletes from John Glenn High named to the Northern State Conference All-Conference teams are Julie Knowlton. Rusti Dill and Theresa Northam, in girls basketball. In boys basketball were Rick Hardesty. Greg Dreessen and Mark Cain. The following Walkerton Elementary students were winners in the P.T.A. Reflections contest: grade 1. Steven Savoie and Caleb Gilmer; grade 3. Julie Paschen, Heather Erdelvi and Jennifer Hostetler; grade 4. Sonia Haines. Brian Cochran and Eric Barden. Their entries were in Music. Art and Literature. Winners of the 1985 Pinewood Derby Pack 293 are Steven Snell, first place; Kyle Betz, third place; and Joe Reinhold, second place. Other winners were Jerry McMahon. best design; John Strahm. most creative: and Mike Nimon. judge’s choice. 1975 One on these times . . John Glenn's Falcons once again the bridesmaids instead of the bnde. just decision number five to the Plymouth Pilgrims in six years as thev bowed out of the 1975 sectional in a real nail burr Saturday night, 55-52 Enrollment for the Liberty Town ship 4 H Club will be held Monday,

March 10. at 7:00 p.m., in the North Liberty School's cafeteria. St. Patrick's annual St. Patrick’s Day dinner-dance will be held on Saturday. March 15. at the school hall with the traditional Irish meal being served at 6:30 p.m. At the market standing rib roast was selling for $1.09 a pound; rib steak at $1.39 a pound; pork loin roast at 89 cents a pound; center cut pork chops at 97 cents a pound; baby beef liver at 79 cents a pound; franks at 69 cents a package; smoked sausage at $1.29 a pound; spare ribs at 89 cents a pound; 16 ounces ocean perch at 69 cents; a half gallon of sherbet for 79 cents; a 15 ounce package of Oreo creme sandwich cookies for 89 cents; five seven ounce boxes of creamettes elbow macaroni for SI.OO. tuna at 49 cents a can; a 32 ounce of Mazola oil for $1.49; three eight packs of hamburger buns for $1.00; 18 ounce jar of Smucker's grape jelly for 69 cents; eelerv at 19 cents a stalk; eight 7 2 size navel oranges for 99 cents; three pounds of tomatoes for $1 00; and 10 pounds of Idaho potatoes for 99 cents 1970 The V\4untcer Firemen of Walk erion and I ineoln Tow nship spon m»t lh< annual Faster Igg Hunt and this year the hunt will be held on Saturday, March 28. a; 2:00

p.m. at Place park. The North Liberty vocal music department of the high school and elementary school will present a spring concert on Friday. March 20. at 7:30 p.m , in the high school gym. At the market Easter hams were featured with a five pound canned ham for $4.89; turkeys at 39 cents a pound; whole hams at 59 cents a pound; center sliced ham at 99 cents a pound; butt half at 69 cents a pound; center cut pork chops at 87 cents a pound; country style ribs at 67 cents a pound; football minced loaf at 89 cents a pound; Pillsbury biscuits at 9 cents a tube; a two pound can of Folger's coffee for $1.49; five 10 ounce boxes of broccoli spears or cauliflower for $1.00; 12 cans of Vet's dog food for $1.00; Banquet dinners at 39 cents each; onions at three pounds for 39 cents; celery at 29 cents a stalk; and 10 pounds of Idaho potatoes for 89 cents. 1965 The Hartsough Manufacturing Company, of Walkerton, will have an open house at their new plant in the Walkerton Industrial Park, on Underwood Road, Friday. March 26. The plant was completed a short time ago. The Walkerton F.F.A. will have a slave auction this Friday evening at the high school gym. The Walkerton Lions Cub will honor the athletes at their meeting to be held on Tuesday. March 23, at the American Legion Hall. 1960 Members of the Walkerton Order of DeMolay and their families will observe DeMolay Devotional Day on Sunday. March 20. Special services have been arranged with Rev. Tunis at the Methodist Church. The observance is held each year on the Sunday nearest to March 18. the date the Order of DeMolay was founded in 1919. This is a world wide observance and is participated in by DeMolays in every state in the United States and in 12 foreign countries. At the Thursday evening meeting of the PT A the group went to the new Elementary school for a lour of the new building. 1955 The annual Spring Convention of the St. Joseph County Federated Women's Clubs will be held on Wednesday. March 30. in Walkerton. at the Methodist Church, with the Woman's Civic Club as hosts. At the market T-bone steak was selling for 55 cents a pound; rolled beef roast at 39 cents a pound; bacon at 49 cents a pound; sirloin steak at 49 cents a pound: celery at 19 cents a stalk; a two pound carton of Velveeta cheese for 75 cents: a quart jar of Miracle Whip for 51 cents; 10 pounds of Gold Medal flour for 95 cents; Blue Bonnet oleo at 29 cents a pound; and a carton of cigarettes for $2.14. 1950 Gus Schultz, having completed 29 years of service for the United Telephone Company and other companies which preceded it. in Walkerton, is now "basking in the sunshine" as a retired employee. He retired on March Ist.

To whom it may concern on the release of Richard Kickbush. The School Board, the principal, superintendent, the attorney should be released also! Spring is house cleaning time and 1 think the voters in the John Glenn School Corp, district should go to the polls and clean house. Wouldn't you rather have discipline than have a bunch of teenagers run the school, remcm her two or three years down the mad those kids will find themselves in courts. before a judge with heavy

fines or imprisonment. Plus emharassment to the parents and kids. These kids are not all to blame, their parents were born during the war years, mothers worked, dads were off and away from home where the kids fended for themselves. These actions will come back to haunt you. don't forget. A taxpayer, Ed Dolph “Will We Ever Have A Say?” Many feelings have been aroused in our town of Walkerton due to the firing of a teacher who has been part of our school for 34 years. The feelings are those of anger, frustration, confusion, disbelief and there are those who feel justice has been served. For us. parents of four with number five on the way. our feelings are those of helplessness, concern, and betrayal. I attended the hearing for Mr. Kickbush with the attitude that maybe after so many years he really could not handle elementary students. Maybe the alleged chargcss were warranted and he should be placed somewhere else in the corporation besides at the elementary level. We11....1 left the hearing in complete support for Mr. Kickbush. It was evident to me that the first occurancc did occur and displinary actions had been taken. The second occurancc of taking a child by the arm to prevent a fight with another child and then taken to the office was no occurance! What was he suppose to do? Let the children beat each other up while the teachers stand by and watch! After hearing what they were using as the third occurancc of putting a child's tongue back into his mouth left me dumfounded. The parent of that child testified on behalf of Mr. Kickbush. There was no incident! I felt I had just left a witch hunt! After discussing what I heard and witnessed to my husband. I soon relaxed. We agreed there was no way our elected school board who is to represent the people — after receiving a petition with over 900 signatures from people of this community — after hearing co-workers testify in Mr. Kickbush's defense — no way after being present at that hearing and being aware of the response from those who attended (300-400) — there is no way they would fire Mr. Kickbush. I attended the next school board meeting to find myself in complete disbelief. The only thing I can say is. were they paying attention at the hearing? Did none of w hat was presented or said in Mr. Kickbush’s defense make any difference at all? We believe they had their minds made up before the hearing and the only reason there was a hearing was because they couldn't refuse! Both of us were born and have been raised in this community and feel very fortunate to be able to raise our children here. We were taught to respect our elders, which included teachers and people on the street you didn’t even know. If you got into trouble at school, be prepared to get in trouble again at home! We were raised to believe your actions reflected those of your parents. We were disciplined as wc grew and thank God! I can't imagine where or how we would have ended up if we hadn't been disciplined. There is a difference between "discipline" and "child abuse." There is a difference between a "spanking" and being "beat.” For those parents who believe corporal punishment is wrong and unjust, we disagree. W'e have yet to find anyone wiser than God. (Proverbs 22:15 and Proverbs 23:13-14) Wc do not like the idea of our children attending a school where

teachers are afraid to discipline, where children get away with showing disrespect. Where the school Superintendent and the school board show no respect to our communities citizens. We will stand behind our teachers 100 percent. Wc will not vote for any of the present board members. We will not patronize the board members places of business. (McDonalds of Plymouth, Craft Drugs in North Liberty). We will not support the elementary PT A until those causing disention resign. We feel this whole ordeal should never had occured. This w ill not pass or blow over in a week for those who think it will. There is more at stake here than the firing of a teacher. Our teachers arc being compromised, root raised values arc being disregarded and tom down, our children arc at risk, respect is being lost. If wc have no say so in this matter, will we ever have a say? Tim and Karol Jackson “Thank You" Our minister said in church after the public hearing on February 21. "Dick, not many have the opportunity of hearing their (eulogy) while they are still living." The support, concern and love for us during these most difficult days have come in various ways . . . prayers, cards, flowers, petitions, phone calls, visits and testimonies. This support gives us the strength and courage to continue our case through legal channels forthcoming. It is our hope that the "kids" in our schools will be given the educational leadership that helps them learn, not only from books, but from honest, moral and trustworthy role models who expect mutual respect for all. Other area school corporations are concerned about the eventual outcome of this problem. They are also concerned about the termina tion decision that was to be based only on the Februan 21 public hearing presentations Our testimonies from parents, teachers, administrators and taxpavers appeared not credible. The ad ministration (school board, superintendent and principal) perhaps had other motives for the termination decision. This newspaper could be filled with documentation on this case, however let us thank all you parents, students, area collegues. alumni students, taxpavers, business persons, friends, barbershop singers from South Bend and relatives for all you are to us .. .we love you ail and ask that God will bless each of your lives ... continue praying for justice, fairness and understanding. Our love to all. Dick and Shem Kickbush and Family WHAT IS A.A.R.P. AND HOW CAN IT HELP ME? How often have you asked this question? We are fortunate enough to have someone give us those answers. A representative of the National Organization of A.A.R.P. has graciously consented to come and speak to us and tell us how the organization got started. their benefits, their drug prescription program and their educational programs available. Ms. Marion Kost, Assistant State Director of A.A.R.P. will give us a presentation on the organization on Thursday March 22. at 1 00 p.m. at the Starke Home Health Care office at 10 S. Heaton St.. Knox. Indiana. Anyone in the young age categon of over fifty is welcome. Hope to see you then and bring a friend! For further information call Mary Ann Bombagctti at 772 4458 About a third of the world's pineapples come from Hawaii The bagpipe is an old instrument It is spoken of in the Old Testament and it was used by the Egyptians. Greeks and Romans.