PA High School Teacher Reportedly Showed Obsession To Students
A teacher in Mifflin County, PA has reportedly shown the fear mongering, anti-Muslim propaganda film Obsession, recently distributed to 28 million swing state voters, to her class at Indian Valley High School, warning the students that if Barack Obama is elected, some of what they saw in the film would occur here in the U.S.
I first got wind of this teacher's clearly inappropriate "lesson" about a week and a half ago, when I was asked by a friend who saw one of my blog posts about the film to contact him about an Obsession related incident in his area. After speaking to this friend and getting what details he had, and finding out how he came by this information, I decided to investigate.
My friend couldn't initially recall the name of the teacher in question, and was only able to tell me that it was a female high school history/social studies teacher. But, since there are only two high schools in Mifflin County, and only a handful of female history/social studies teachers, it didn't take long to find a likely suspect. The official school system website of one of the possibilities, Dawn Renninger, was loaded with far right, conservative Christian clues. Once I zeroed in on this particular teacher, I called my friend back, and, upon hearing the name, he told me he was sure that this was the name he had heard in discussions among local residents about the incident.
On Sunday, October 5, I called Mrs. Renninger and asked her flat out if she was the teacher who had showed the film. She would not give me a straight answer, and told me that I would have to speak to the school's principal, Ronald Varner. So, I gave Renninger my name and phone number, which she said she would give to Varner. After several days with no response from either Renninger or Varner, I called the school and asked to speak to Varner. The first time I called, I was told he was gone for the day, so I called back the next day at an earlier time. This time, after explaining to the person who answered the phone why I was calling, I was connected to the school's vice principal, Michael Zinobile. That was on Thursday, October 9.
Zinobile, raising his voice several times during our conversation, repeated two or three times that I "didn't have the facts." In response, I told Zinobile that I was trying to reach Varner to get his side of the story. I gave Zinobile my name and number to give to Varner, who, again, did not contact me.
I also told Zinobile, as I had told Mrs. Renninger, that even without the reported showing of Obsession at the school, I had found enough inappropriate, politically and religiously biased material on this teacher's official school system website to write about her, and that I planned to do so whether or not Varner responded to my attempts to contact him.
One outrageously inappropriate link among the "Resource Links" provided for students on "Mrs. Renninger's Social Studies Page" is a link, under the heading of "Government," to the American Family Association (AFA). Self-described as "America's Largest Pro-Family Action Site," the AFA, originally founded by Don Wildmon in 1977 as the National Federation for Decency, is one of the most radical far right conservative Christian organizations there is. The following are the Mission and Philosophical Statements of this organization that Mrs. Renninger directs her public school students to as a "government" resource.
Mission Statement
The American Family Association exists to motivate and equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth.
Philosophical Statement
The American Family Association believes that God has communicated absolute truth to man through the Bible, and that all men everywhere at all times are subject to the authority of God's Word. Therefore, a culture based on Biblical truth best serves the well-being of our country, in accordance with the vision of our founding fathers.
The pro-creationism and anti-gay AFA promotes and sells films such as Ben Stein's "Expelled," and "They're Coming to Your Town," a film about an Arkansas town that didn't realize that homosexuals were taking over the town until it was to late, and "how homosexual activists plan to do the same in other towns." In addition to the materials distributed by the AFA to promote these and other religious right causes, its website promotes the work of Christian nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton, devoting a page of its online store to selling Barton's Wallbuilders DVDs. Needless to say, as inappropriate as the rest of the material on the AFA website is for a public school teacher to be promoting, the fact that Mrs. Renninger, as an American history teacher, is endorsing historical revisionism by sending her students to a website that promotes the distortion of and outright lies about American history, in both the website's content and the marketing items such as Barton's "American Heritage Series," makes matters even worse.
The AFA is also a distributor of the extremely biased and dishonest 2008 presidential election "Voter Guide" put out by Wallbuilders. The specific lies and misrepresentations in this Voter Guide, which is still being distributed by churches and religious organizations, and will be until election day, are detailed in a post I wrote on Talk2Action back in August.
Another government resource linked to on Mrs. Renninger's website is the "Government Watch" page of Pennsylvania State Senator John Eichelberger, whose website's prominently placed "Constituent Action" section singles out only one cause with a separate link -- pro-family issues. While it would, at first glance, seem entirely appropriate for a teacher whose courses include a course on government to link to the website of a politician who represents the school's congressional district, Eichelberger, whose pro-life views are clearly in line with those of the AFA and very visible on his website, is the only politician singled out for inclusion in Renninger's list. There are no links to the websites of the district's state representative, or to the websites of its representative or senators in the federal government.
The section of Renninger's "Resource Links" page titled "Current Issues Main Links" does list the typical current events resources recommended by many teachers, such as the BBC, NPR, and PBS, but the only cable news network website included in Renninger's list is FOX News.
Another quite questionable thing on Mrs. Renninger's website is found on her homepage. It's an announcement of the theme for this year's "Veteran's [sic] Day Assembly" at the school, an event that Renninger apparently plans. This year's theme is a quote she attributes to Dick Cheney -- "It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you." Did Mrs. Renninger bother to look up where this quote came from? Or check to see if it was even real? Because it isn't. It's from an emailed letter allegedly written by Cheney, first circulated in 1999, then again shortly after the 2000 election, and eventually presented on right wing websites as a "prophetic" speech given by Cheney on August 19, 2001, just weeks before 9/11. Now, seven years after the first appearance of the bogus email, its last sentence, "It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you," is quoted on countless right wing websites, attributed to Cheney, but with no source. I certainly hope Mrs. Renninger holds her students to a higher standard of scholarship in checking their sources than she herself seems to exhibit.
The only additional information I've been able to find out about the reported showing of Obsession at Indian Valley High School is that at least one student's parents did complain to the principal, who had neither viewed nor approved the film before it was shown. It wasn't until after the complaint that the principal, along with the president of the school board, watched the film, and neither saw a problem with it.
I was also told about another reported incident in which Mrs. Renninger told a class they would receive extra credit if they wore something red, white, and blue on the day of a test. One student who showed up that day wearing a shirt with the Obama logo on it was denied this extra credit, even though the logo is red, white, and blue, and nothing in the school's dress code prohibits the wearing of clothing with political logos. It is not clear whether or not this student was the same student whose parents complained about the showing of Obsession.
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I had Mrs. Renninger when I was in 11th grade. She strongly disliked my class. Very often in the class did we get into heated discussions. It even got to the point where she called my class stuck up snobby rich kids, who were born with silver spoons in our mouths. She told us that we were handed everything and never had to work to get anything we wanted. At that time I was currently holding a job and so were some of the other kids. She also pointed out one student that was in upward bound and said how she has to work for everything she gets and how that makes her a better person. How do you think it made that girl feel? There is no reason that any teacher should ever treat her students in this manor no matter what her opinion of them is. Needless to say the parents of the class were not happy. Letters were written to the school but nothing was ever done. The class I had Mrs. Renninger for was called Government and Economics Honors. In this class we touch on government and spend a few weeks on econ, but the majority of our time was spent talking about religon. We spent weeks on religon and wrote numerous essays on how religon effects us and the government. I do not understand how it has taken this long for everyone to finally realize how she is and what her teaching methods really are!
In class she started talking about the recent debate. She began her laundry list of view points with "Who do you think won the debate?"
I then replied, "Obama, even FOX news reported Obama had won the debate."
She then broke down Obama's view points and stated how McCain actually won the debate. I felt as though she was attacking me because she was looking directly at me while breaking down Obama and his ideas.
As if the 'Obsession' video wasn't bad enough, she has no right to break down my opinion and say that I'm wrong.
First of all, Dancer4, Mrs. Renninger is not a good teacher. In fact she doesn't even teach, she makes the students teach other students and act like they know what they're talking about on a subject they never learned. In my class we watched the movie and afterwards she said that Obama winning the election would be a victory for the Muslim extremists, and when asked if Obama is a terrorist by a student, she told us it was possible. That scared some kids. I don't know for sure what she said in other classes but I've heard a lot of people saying that she said the same types of things. And as for the website, I would hope that we wouldn't need to do any research about how Obama would make a horrible pres. and how abortion is evil and all the other conservative opinions that were on her website, which have been recently taken off for some reason???And the kid with the Obama shirt did have Renninger and that story is true, I know the kid. Get your facts straight!
Nate,
Thank you for your honest posting. I am truly empathetic to your reaction, because I am also a teacher and understand that students make some of their decisions in life based on what they learn from school.
I appreciate your efforts to set the record straight here in this forum, but I am sure if school officials knew how you (and others) were affected in class by this incident, they would be concerned for your learning environment as well.
Have you thought about talking this over with your parents and/or other adults to see what recommendations they may have involving what you have experienced in class?
I hope school progresses well for you. Keep focused and always know that education is an asset to you and will help you be successful later in life.
Concerned Teacher.
Oh yeah, JssG.... FireWaterBurn is not Evan. This is Evan. Why... is this Jess Geissinger? I truly admire your earlier comment, "I have witnessed students lying and stretching the truth in order to get her into trouble. That occured in my class!" I'm not really sure if you are insinuating that I am the liar in this situation, but all i have to say is I find it very interesting that four years after the fact, she is finally being exposed for her unfair teaching methods. Hopefully this is the straw that breaks the camel's back.
I completely agree. History shows this is not her first time mentioning her view points and propaganda. She's been doing this for years. After the way she attacked me and the movie she showed, perhaps its about time someone does something?
During the Bush/Kerry election, I was a student of Renninger's and I felt personally attacked by the teacher and her politically charged comments and actions. I can remember on many occasions making the decision to stand up for myself and the protection of my personal rights as a student and an individual when she would begin "preaching" about her own political belief systems. It would not have been so bad if she made the playing field more level by endorsing or informing opposing positions to her viewpoints, but in most cases, according to her, they were simply wrong. I think it is great to have strong convictions and beliefs, and I feel that certain ways of thinking or feeling should not have to be subjective to any higher authority. However, I strongly believe that when you are a professional educator, it is your job is to inform and teach students about all issues concerning a topic of interest or study-- not just the one's that you are either completely for or the ones you are diametrically opposed to. Save that kind of political mumbojumbo for a better venue, such as a political meeting with others that share the same viewpoints, or around the dinner table with family members who may feel the same way as you. Parents send their children to school believing they are recieving a fair education that will ultimately help mold and strengthen their worldview, but in this case, is that really happening?
During the Bush/Kerry election, I was a student of Renninger's and I felt personally attacked by the teacher and her politically charged comments and actions. I can remember on many occasions making the decision to stand up for myself and the protection of my personal rights as a student and an individual when she would begin what I liked to call "preaching" about her own political belief systems. It would not have been so bad if she made the playing field more level by endorsing or informing opposing positions to her viewpoints, but in most cases, according to her, they were simply wrong. I think it is great to have strong convictions and beliefs, and I feel that certain ways of thinking or feeling should not have to be subjective to any higher authority. However, I strongly believe that when you are a professional educator, your job is to inform and teach students about all issues concerning a topic of interest or study-- not just the one's that you are completely for or the ones you are diametrically opposed to. Save that kind of political mumbojumbo for a better venue, such as political meetings with others that share the same viewpoints, or around the dinner table with family members who may feel the same way as you. Parents send their children to school believing they are recieving a fair education that will ultimately help mold and strengthen their worldview, but in this case, is that really happening?
It's good to see so many liberals(s
It's good to see so many liberals(s
I am currently a student of Dawn Renninger. She had showed us this video proving how many radical muslims there were and a warning to what may happen if Obama is voted into office. She has brought in flyers supporting McCain and never talks about Obama's view points. She only supports McCain and publically expresses her feelings about the elections. I can't vote in this election, but she has NO RIGHT to spread her views to the class as though if we voted for Obama the US would go to hell.
What is so hard to understand about:
church----
The classroom is no place for a teacher to riff about their views. If anything, teachers should inspire debate between the students of different opposing views and stay out of it but to moderate. Since when are political/religious opinions of teachers an appropriate part of school curriculum?
Let me start off by saying that my experience with Mrs. Renninger came when she first taught at IVHS. She was subbing for the best history teacher I have ever had, Mr. Heltman. In Heltman's class, we were learning about the causes and effects of WWI. The name of the group that assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the black hand) the three men credited with his assassination, and how this led to WWI. We took notes nearly every day, had discussions, quizzes and tests based on what we had learned. Heltman was the best teacher I have ever had.
Did Mrs. Renninger bother to look at the lesson plan when she came to our class? Yes. Did she understand the lesson plan? Apparently not. Mrs. Renninger's unit, which took SEVERAL weeks, focused solely on trench warfare. What the hell does that have to do with the causes and effects of WWI? My first (and current) impression of Mrs. Renninger is that she is a politically biased jesus-freak who would rather blab about what she thinks is right or wrong with the world, rather than researching and presenting the facts in an accurate manner. She never should been hired at IVHS. When my children attend, I will see to it they are not mislead or misinformed by this ignorant woman. I will home school my children, if necessary. After all, I still have my notes from Mr. Heltman's class.
Nine pages of his notes > nine months of her teaching.
"My first (and current) impression of Mrs. Renninger is that she is a politically biased jesus-freak who would rather blab about what she thinks is right or wrong with the world, rather than researching and presenting the facts in an accurate manner."
I really couldn't have said that better.
I, as a current student of dawn, am a witness of this disease jeffro was talking about. Before watching the movie, i was supporting Obama and his views. But, that day in class, before she showed the movie, she made sure to tell us about how this video has brought up the point to people that Obama might do this when taking office. Then after watching that video and hearing about what she was saying about his past, i left that class horrified and shocked. I want this disease stopped. I want to make it known that whenever she starts talking about both sides of the election, before she starts talking about Obama, she says "Shes only playing the devil's advacate" which is saying that even though her views are bias and that she doesn't beleive in Obama's views, that she has to talk about both views. I think the time has come to turn this Dawn into Dusk.
Wow, I really like that last line "Dawn into Dusk" Damn. That is really creative. Always be aware of people that try to poison your mind with the spread of propaganda and religious values they hold in government. For propaganda is false, and religion has no place, and I mean no place in government. Religion is purely social, a social event and social chatter, but should have no influence in making laws that we live by
Another thing I would like to bring up is the mention in the acticle about her "Resource Links". If you go to the page, at the top in bold print, it clearly reads "Here are some helpful links for your research." Correct me if I am wrong but the term "research" leads me to believe that we may have assignments pertaining to the links and that they will help us. If anything I would like to thank her for providing us with the materials. Lastly, the student that was denied the extra credit points was not a student of hers. She could only hand out the points to her own students.
First off, I doubt anyone used the links. Secondly, what kind of project are you doing that you need to be on a website featuring things like anti-gay themes?
First off, I am a student of Mrs. Renninger and I personally feel that she is a wonderful teacher and never once have I felt that she was pushing her morals and ideals upon me. Second, I am in one of her DIA (Democracy in Action) classes and had the opportunity to watch the DVD. I personally enjoyed it and learned a lot. The DVD clearly states at the beginning that these are the actions of radical Muslims and most Muslims do not agree with such acts of terrorism. Mrs. Renninger never told my class that the actions portrayed in the movie would occur if Barack Obama was elected President. If anything she stressed even more so that most Muslims do not agree with the acts. Thirdly, people have stated that Mifflin County is generally a conservation region and it is. Therefore, why is she being persecuted for being such a conservative Christian? I am in no way saying she then has the right to push her beliefs upon us, as her students, but like I previously stated, I have never felt she has done so.
continued.
Is this the same Mrs. Renninger? Hmmm, maybe all these other people are lying then. I can't speak for what has happened this year, but I can speak for her teaching methods and biased remarks since I (unfortunately) had her two years ago.
Why is she being persecuted for being a conservative Christian? She isn't. She's being persecuted for being a conservative, right-wing Jesus-freak who routinely teaches with a biased manner, often makes anti-democratic, anti-liberal, etc remarks, and who rarely presents both sides of an issue. If you don't think she teaches with some sort of bias, then you seriously must have never had her. Even the most Christian, Republican kids in my classes were disgusted with Dawn's teaching style.
When I was in highschool a teacher once showed us an anti abortion video. Took me ten years to figure out why he was so nervous about it.
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