SALINE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A Saline Area Schools administrator is chastising the staff at a historical school, saying in an email that “using binary/gendered language [like] boy/girl…is replicating harmful practices.”
Kara Davis, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning at Saline Area Schools, sent the email on May 16 regarding the practice at the district’s Weber-Blaess one-room school. The structure, built in 1867, is used by the district as a historical museum. The school provides a hands-on learning experience for students and shows them what it was like to go to school in the late 1800s through the 1950s.
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Davis wrote, in part, “I am reaching out because I have received feedback that the docents and/or school masters are using binary/gendered language (“boy”/”girl”) to orient students in Weber Blaess activities.” Davis went on to write, “I am confident that all volunteers want to create the best experience possible and would never intentionally exclude students. I also recognize that there is historical accuracy to this practice, however I want to ensure we aren’t replicating harmful practices on students of today to model what happened historically.”
Michigan News Source reached out to Saline Area Schools Superintendent Dr. Stephen Laatsch for a comment. He did not respond by press time.
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