A lot of controversy surrounds the creation of this website as well as regarding the messages posted on the Facebook group’s wall. While these messages may be construed as harsh, this is more or less a “cry for help” that has the following goals:
Making the community aware. I think it goes without saying that this website would not exist if there was no need to alert the community to what is happening. We, the students, both former and current, are trying to make sense of the recent developments within the Hillel community.
Giving the students a voice. Students can feel free to submit their stories via the Contact Form or by simply commenting on posts that have already been made. I will either publish them with your name or anonymously; you can specify whether you want me to reveal your identity or to keep it private.
Opening the discussion for the rest of the community. What I’ve seen thus far is a vocal community of people who are against Hillel’s new vision. I’ve been alerted to the fact that there are many parents who are promoting this brand new vision. Where are you, and why are your voices not heard? This site is intended to be a dialogue for everyone. As administrator of this site, I am not silencing anyone, nor am I refusing to publish stories that would support this move made by Adam Holden and the new Hillel board. At the present, as far as I am concerned, those not speaking out are displaying nothing but cowardice.
Showing those affected individuals that we support them. Do you think this site would exist if the individuals fired were not respected? We love you, Mrs. Galitzer, Mrs. Heber, and Rabbi Lefkowitz. We are writing to let you know that we are standing to support you, we are wearing black and forming sit-ins to let you know that we care, and we will not stand idly as such decisions are being made.
I appreciate all the support of the parents, students, and teachers who have so far contacted me about the creation of this site. Thank you for your contributions and thank you for your encouragement. But above all, let’s remember that our goals are to stand behind the faculty members who have to look for other means of sustaining their families.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Anonamous // Mar 25, 2007 at 10:49 pm
power to the people
2 Anonymous // Mar 25, 2007 at 11:20 pm
I had the pleasure of having both Mrs. Galitzer and Mrs. Heber as teachers during my high school years at Hillel. They teach with love, passion, empathy and awareness. They inspired me. I feel terribly for these two women, but most importantly, I pity the many children at Hillel who will have missed out on a very special gift of learning due to poor administrative decisions.
3 Anonymous // Mar 28, 2007 at 3:04 pm
I do not beleive that we can comment on the actions of trained professionals of the school..
4 admin // Mar 28, 2007 at 3:23 pm
To Anonymous: I understand you feel the need to articulate this point in several places. I would disagree with you about your statement: being fortunate citizens of the United States, we are entitled to comment all we want. This website is about communication. Whether or not these “trained professionals” heed our advice is their choice, but that does not mean people should not be able to talk.
Furthermore, the issue of “trained professionals” has already been brought up and discussed here. I also said the following, which deserves repeating: “I also think that using the term ‘trained professionals’ does not necessarily mean that these professionals exercise good judgment. It seems that you disagree with me on that too. You could be a great leader and still make mistakes. I do consider these wrongful terminations a mistake.”
Do you agree with every decision your lawmakers (such as your president, congressman, or senator) have made? Are we not allowed to comment on those under the premise that they are “trained professionals?”
We certainly don’t know everything, and many of us know that we are commenting without knowing all sides of the story. Unfortunately, these “trained professionals” do not wish to have their voices heard, which I consider to be very sad and unfortunate especially if they consider themselves part of the “community.”
5 Anonymous // Mar 28, 2007 at 3:44 pm
to Admin: I must tell you that there was information about someone which was a personal attack. I call that the worst form of lashon hara….Fortunatly, you the person who made this site took it down because you know whats good for you.
6 admin // Mar 28, 2007 at 3:51 pm
To Anonymous: Please see my edited response.
Furthermore, the blanket threat in that comment about “you know what’s good for you” is not why I removed it. I stated my reasonings in the comment above. This site is to facilitate communication and not to demean or harass any particular individuals. Any posts promoting that will be removed. That was the reason why I made a comment policy and I am adhering to it as I would towards any inappropriate comments. Nobody is above the law here.
7 Anonymous // Mar 28, 2007 at 3:55 pm
I am glad you will remove any comment that will violate the law of defamation of character or slander, due to the fact that when this site was put up there were many cases of that violation. I hope you will do a good job at controlling that
8 admin // Mar 28, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Anonymous: The site has hit its active peak already. I think I have done a pretty good job moderating the site to facilitate discussion that would promote change. I think I have done a pretty good job disallowing the defamation of individuals.
I believe I made it pretty clear that the intention of this site is not to attack anyone at all and this is a point that I find myself reinforcing several times a day. There’s a very big difference between disagreeing with an action and attacking a person. I respect many people who have done questionable actions and I would never go as far as defaming their character or slandering them.
I appreciate that you hope I will do a good job at controlling it. I think this site’s success and the feedback I have received speaks for itself.
I also do appreciate that the board has spoken, though I do wish it were under other circumstances and preferably with information that could possibly stop the speculation from even occurring.
9 Anonymous // Mar 28, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Nothing wrong with this site admin I think it’s great and im glad that you are preventing further slandering or defamation from any person that wishes to leave a comment.
10 Isaac Gortenburg // Jul 24, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I do not understand why people choose to be anonymous when talking about this?
Do you not want people to know what youre thinking or do you know that you are wrong in the actions and dont want to be associated with this?
hmmm????
Please feel free to contact me if you want to know the real KANSAS CITY story and if you would like to have an educated discussion about school and dr. holden.
igorte@gmail.com
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