Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 18:12:52 -0800 From: Jean Richter Subject: 4/2/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. RI: Students help out house for AIDS patients 2. CA: State labor commissioner supports gay teacher; LYRIC and NYAC to hold joint conference ======================================================= Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 00:56:41 -0500 (EST) From: "Tina M. Wood" To: richter@eecs.berkeley.edu Subject: RI: Students help home for people with AIDS (fwd) This ran in one of the local editions of the Providence Journal. -T. 3.8.99 07:07:31 Catching their conscience Cumberland students hope the play's the thing to help House of Compassion By SUMATHI REDDY Journal Staff Writer CUMBERLAND -- The neighbors complained that the yard was messy, a blight on their neighborhood. It was yet another complaint about The House of Compassion, a community residence for HIV-infected and AIDS patients that has been dogged by controversy since it opened. But this time, town youths took action. They took it upon themselves to clean the yard of the historic 18th-century house at 2510 Mendon Rd., a quarter of a mile down the road from Cumberland High School. They mowed the lawn, planted flowers and raked the leaves, leaving the yard pristine. Colleen Scanlan, founder and executive director of the House of Compassion, remembers that day. ``I was on the cusp of throwing the towel in,'' the soft-spoken Scanlan said. ``I came into work, it was a Sunday, and there they were, 80 kids planting flowers.'' ``It rekindled my spirit. It enabled me to keep this place going,'' she added. The cleanup marked the start of a tight-knit relationship between the house and Cumberland High School that has blossomed over the last few years. Now the students' relationship with the house is culminating in a dramatic production that has been in the works since September. The play chronicles the life of the house, as a site on the Underground Railroad in the 1800s (as oral tradition has it), and as a refuge for AIDS patients in the present. The play is a series of vignettes, alternating between the past and present, with characters that include African Americans escaping from the chains of slavery and modern-day AIDS patients learning to accept their fate. The scenes based on the present day House of Compassion came directly from the stories that Scanlan and residents have told the student writers and actors. It is a play in which fact and fiction intermingle, and there is a sprinkling of magic. Connecting the vignettes is the House of Compassion itself, a house that ``has provided shelter for disenfranchised individuals'' since it was built, said Laura Riggs-Mitchell, one of three teachers at the high school overseeing the play. Riggs-Mitchell is the high school's service learning coordinator. She, along with Suzanne Frechette, whose creative writing class wrote the play, and Gail Frappier, the drama coach, are the trio leading the project. It is a project whose cast of characters has expanded to include every department in the high school, along with parents, local businesses, community members and anyone else willing to donate time or services. Scanlan has visited classes and students have come to the house. This includes math students who are studying the house's architecture, history students studying its possible role as an Underground Railroad site and art students who are making a stained-glass panel that is part of the play's last scene. The play, Frechette said, is a pilot project for the service learning requirement that will be instituted next year at the high school. Beginning with next year's freshman class, students will be required to participate in community service linked to a class. Students involved in this year's play, Riggs-Mitchell said, are performing community service through civic advocacy. ``We are an advocate for the House of Compassion,'' Riggs-Mitchell said. ``We're educating the community.'' IT IS the Tuesday after Valentine's Day. Five high school students, all involved in the play, and Frappier, the drama coach, enter the house bearing red and white paper plates, napkins and cups, a chocolate Valentine's Day cake, bread, salad and the ingredients for lasagna. Every other Tuesday a different group of students from the high school comes to cook dinner for the residents. Jane Rosenbaum, a junior and the community/environmental student government chairwoman, coordinates each dinner. ``The first dinner, only one or two residents came,'' Rosenbaum said. ``They would take their dinner and watch television. Now they sit with us and eat.'' At this dinner, four of the residents -- Paul, Colleen, Melinda and Barbara -- sit quietly and eat the prepared dinner. The students attentively serve the residents before joining them in the meal. Rosenbaum plays romantic music on a keyboard. The house is enveloped in a blanket of silence, aside from the stray noises of people eating. Colleen eats a little bit, but then begins to cough, gasping for oxygen from the tank she is hooked up to. She gets up from the dinner table to leave early. Scanlan and others assist her up the stairs. As the dinner windsdown, the residents open up a little. They thank the students. ``Very delicious,'' Melinda says. ``Thank you very much.' Tony Rodrigues, a junior and Student Council member, pets the resident dog, with whom he is clearly familiar. Rodrigues has two parts in the play, frequently helps clean the house's yard and comes to the dinners. The interaction between the students and residents varies, he said. ``I think they just like that we're here, that other people are around and interested in them. They don't feel as alienated, like the neighbors make them feel. We're here to show our support,'' Rodrigues said. Rosenbaum asks Scanlan where Joe is. In the hospital, she replies. ``Is he okay? Can we send a card?'' Rosenbaum asks, concerned. It's tough on the kids when the residents get sick, Scanlan says. The next day, Colleen is admitted to the hospital. She dies two weeks later. But for the rest of the residents and the students, life goes on. PLAY REHEARSALS are spirited. There is much improvisation. Students are constantly debating, even arguing, about certain scenes, characters. It's a collaborative process. On hand are a writer, actor and technician from Trinity Repertory Company, in Providence. Their services are the result of a Dramatic Step grant. Students seem particularly serious and involved in this year's play. They know Scanlan and the residents of the house will be in the audience. They want to accurately portray their characters, do justice to them. Rehearsals can be emotional as well. Frappier said she burst into tears at one rehearsal. ``I have no idea why,'' she said. ``Some of these scenes are just so powerful.'' Renee Archambeault, a junior, plays the role of Scanlan. ``I know I have big shoes to fill,'' she said. ``I'm very nervous about it. I admire her so much. I want to do her justice. She's just so strong, so kind and warm and unselfish. I wish I could be like that.'' At one of the later practices the students work on the final scene. It's the scene in which the two sides of the house -- the one representing the Underground Railroad site and the one representing the AIDS refuge -- finally meet. Two sets of students come storming down the aisles of the auditorium, heckling both sides. ``Bring 'em out,'' one boy screams at the Underground Railroad side. "I want to see [those slaves] out of here." On the other side, a boy yells to the House of Compassion, "You're so dirty. I don't want your AIDS.'' They taunt the actors and actresses on stage, building toward the play's climax. In the end, the walls between life and art, the audience and the players, come tumbling down. The ending has a symbolic significance, including a reunion of two unlikely figures that was orchestrated by the students. It is a gesture meant to show the community's embrace of the House of Compassion. The play will be performed at the high school on March 19, starting at 7:30 p.m., and on March 20, starting at 2:30 p.m. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted and a variety of arts and crafts will be on sale. All proceeds will be donated to the House of Compassion. 3.8.99 07:07:30 Sidebar: Researchers seek link to Underground Railroad CUMBERLAND -- Was the House of Compassion really an Underground Railroad site used to harbor runaway slaves in the mid-19th century? According to local legend and oral tradition, it was. And current and former owners of the house, historically known as the Luke Jillson House, insist it is. Built in the late 1700s (the exact date is unknown), the Luke Jillson House is on the National Register of Historic Places. But there is no concrete evidence linking the house to the series of hideaways used as an escape route by thousands of slaves seeking freedom. The most substantial evidence in the house is architectural details, such as hidden staircases and closets and prison-like bars in the basement, as well as underground tunnels and Civil War-era artifacts that have been recovered. And then there are the sightings of ``ghosts'' that many owners of the house swear to. But that is not enough, says National Parks Service Ranger Chuck Arning, who is the local coordinator of the national Underground Railroad initiative. The initiative, which began last year, is an attempt to identify, preserve and link Underground Railroad sites. It's a grassroots effort that relies heavily on local research. Arning has been in contact with the teachers and students involved in the production of the play that is set in the house. And he is urging them to continue researching the house, which they began to do this year. History classes at Cumberland High School intend to continue researching the house next year in hopes of eventually finding conclusive evidence. -- Sumathi Reddy ============================================================================= From: LLDEFNY@aol.com Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 18:13:08 EST To: LLDEFNY@aol.com Subject: State Labor Commissioner Supports Gay Bakersfield Teacher X-Mailer: AOL 3.0 16-bit for Windows sub 38 =========================================== LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND www.lambdalegal.org News Release ============================================ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, March 9, 1999 Contact: Myron Dean Quon 213-937-2728 x 229 Peg Byron 212-809-8585 x 230, 888-987-1984 (pager) ============================================ STATE LABOR COMMISSIONER SUPPORTS GAY BAKERSFIELD TEACHER Ruling: school district violated state law by removing students from his classroom (LOS ANGELES, March 9, 1999) -- The California Labor Commissioner has ordered a Bakersfield school district to stop removing eighth graders from a science class because the teacher is gay, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday. The Commissioner ruled that Rio Bravo-Greeley Union School District officials' yanking 15 students from the classroom of award-winning teacher James D. Merrick, Ph.D., was a violation of state law. The California labor code prohibits employment discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. Staff Attorney Myron Dean Quon of Lambda's Western Regional Office said, "The decision vindicates all of us who believe that bigotry and hate have no place in the classroom." Lambda assisted Merrick in the administrative process, and continues to represent him in related legal matters. Last year, after Merrick challenged anti-gay comments by a Kern County Human Relations commissioner, some parents demanded that the students be removed from the class, solely because of Merrick's perceived sexual orientation. The 15 students removed from the class were assigned to study hall because Merrick is the school's only 8th grade science instructor. Over 100 students remain in his six science classes. The 40-year teaching veteran is a recent recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award from the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce. Merrick filed a complaint with the state Labor Commissioner, whose March 8 decision states that the school district's actions "fostered 'different treatment in an aspect of employment' based upon [Merrick]'s perceived sexual orientation." The state Labor Commissioner ordered Rio Bravo-Greeley Union School District to "cease and desist" from removing students from Merrick's class because he is gay. School officials also are prohibited from "engaging in discrimination or different treatment in employment or opportunity based on actual or perceived sexual orientation." Lambda and the California Teachers Association are planning a lawsuit on Merrick's behalf. Said Legal Director Beatrice Dohrn from Lambda's New York Headquarters, "Schools need to learn about justice so they can teach it to their students. If schools themselves can't be fair and non-discriminatory, how can they teach those values to kids? Merrick's students are far better served by this ruling than they were by missing science class taught by a gay man." (Merrick v. Rio Bravo-Greeley Union School District, No. 99-03985) --30-- Link directly to Lambda's news release: http://www.lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/pages/documents/record?record=386 =================================== Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund www.lambdalegal.org Western Regional Office 6030 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 200 Los Angeles, CA 90036-3617 323-937-2728 phone 323-937-0601 fax lambda@lambdalegal.org ================================================================================ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 16:51:29 -0700 From: Jessea NR Greenman Subject: Young, Loud and Proud PLUS NYAC Conferences The 1999 Lyric Young, Loud and Proud Youth Leadership Conference and the NYAC Pacific Regional Conference will be held conjointly this year. To register or receive other information, contact LYRIC at 415-703-6150, ext. 25 OR email OR register online at www.incite.org/YLP Conference is free for all youth participants under the age of 25, although donations are greatly appreciated. O+O+ O+O+ O+O+ O+O+ O+O+ O+O+ Jessea NR Greenman, "I can only hope that...the Court soon will reconsider its analysis and conclude that depriving individuals of the right to choose for themselves how to conduct their intimate relationships poses a far greater threat to the values most deeply rooted in our Nation's history than tolerance of nonconformity could ever do." Former Supreme Court Justice Blackmun ================================================================================= Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK OUT OUR INFO-LOADED WEB PAGE AT: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/