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Smokin' hot Bangor teacher talks about having to remove Christmas tree - because of "tolerance".

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BANGOR, Maine — Catherine Gordon has taught math at Bangor High 
School for 30 years. Nearly every year, she has put a Christmas 
tree in her classroom, and no student, no parent and no 
administrator told her it was inappropriate, she said, until 
Friday.

That’s when she received an email from Principal Paul Butler 
telling her she had to remove the 32-inch-tall, artificial pink 
tree, decorated with Hello Kitty ornaments, from her classroom.

“It had no religious symbols on it, no crosses, no angels, no 
stars, just pink Hello Kittys,” Gordon said Monday afternoon, 
referring to the well-known Japanese cartoon character. “And, in 
the 30 years that I’ve decorated for the holidays, I’ve had not 
one parent contact me, not one parent phone call, not one parent 
email. Not one child has come up to me and said they thought it 
was inappropriate and students at this age are very vocal.”

The veteran teacher also said that she received no notice that 
there had been a change in policy about holiday decorations in 
classrooms.

“Since my tree has been up for years and years, I thought it was 
fine to put up a tree up for the 30th year,” Gordon said. “The 
email said that he thought it favored one religion over another 
and he thought it was inappropriate.”

Attempts on Monday to reach Butler for comment on school policy 
regarding the situation were unsuccessful.

Gordon said she put the tree up Wednesday and was told to take 
it down Friday.

“I’ve been very sad about this whole issue,” Gordon said Monday. 
“I’m not an activist, I’m not even overly religious. I just 
thought it was a pink, fun tree and my students really enjoyed 
it.

“They were sad when they came to class today and saw it was 
gone,” she said. “They said, ‘Where’s our tree? Not ‘Where’s 
your tree?’”

Because Gordon had posted a picture of the tree in her classroom 
on her Facebook page after she assembled it last week, she said 
she felt obligated to share that she had to remove it.

In her post Friday night, Gordon commented on how the School 
Department’s attitude toward observing Christmas has changed.

“When I first started teaching, we had parties the last day of 
school before vacation and the kids would bring in cookies and 
we played holiday music — none of that is allowed now,” she 
said. “I feel that this is definitely a turning point in our 
society — when everything offends everyone all the time — it 
just sucks the joy out of everything.”

Reaction to Gordon’s social media post about the situation was 
widespread.

The teacher’s Facebook post had been shared more than 400 times 
by Monday evening, garnered more than 100 comments and captured 
the attention of the media in and out of state. She was 
scheduled to do three phone interviews Tuesday morning with talk 
radio hosts in Bangor, Portland and Lewiston.

“When I got out of class and turned on my phone, I had 77 
messages,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, on Monday afternoon 
criticized the principal’s directive to Gordon.

“Displaying a decorative Christmas tree is a longstanding 
tradition in our country,” he said in a news release. “It should 
not be condemned, especially in our classrooms.

“Our local school teachers and parents should have the ultimate 
say in how to run their classrooms so long as it does not pose 
any danger to students or the community,” the congressman 
continued. “I find the school department’s decision baseless and 
completely counter to all that our nation stands for.”

Bangor School Superintendent Betsy Webb issued a statement 
Monday in response to media requests for an explanation of why 
Gordon was told to remove the tree from her classroom:

“In alignment with national and state standards, the Bangor 
School Department educates students about culture, traditions 
and holidays through curriculum ties in English language arts, 
music, art, social studies and world languages,” Webb said. “Our 
focus is educating students to become global citizens with the 
necessary 21st century skills for college and career readiness 
for their future success.

“Maintaining consistency with this approach has not been an 
issue for the Bangor School Department, as faculty and staff are 
committed to what is in the best interest of students and 
working towards our mission of academic excellence for all,” 
Webb said.

Zachary Heiden with the Maine Civil Liberties Union of Maine 
declined to comment on Gordon’s situation.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee has posted on 
its website a guide for administrators and teachers titled “Know 
Your Rights: Religion in Public Schools.” It includes a section 
on holiday celebrations.

“The United States Supreme Court has determined that schools may 
celebrate the holidays and create displays as long as they so do 
within ‘the context of the Christmas season’ and the religious 
component of their display does not dominate but simply 
represents one element of a holiday that has obtained secular 
status in our society,” it states. “Under [a 1984 U.S. Supreme 
Court] ruling, a Christmas tree would be appropriate, while a 
cross or a nativity scene would not. Crosses and nativity scenes 
are purely religious symbols that have not gained secular status 
in our society and therefore may not be displayed in public 
schools.”

The city of Bangor each year displays a donated holiday tree in 
West Market Square.

Gordon said that she hopes the media attention will spark a 
dialogue about what is appropriate and what isn’t during the 
holiday season.

“We have male faculty members wearing ‘The Grinch That Stole 
Christmas’ ties and we have female staff members wear holiday 
sweaters and that’s OK that you can wear a tree on a tie or a 
sweater but not have one in your classroom? So, I think that a 
good dialogue will come from this and that’s always a good thing 
if people can talk about an issue calmly. Maybe some good will 
come of this.”

https://bangordailynews.com/2015/12/21/news/bangor/bangor-
teacher-talks-about-having-to-remove-christmas-
tree/?ref=moreInbangor
   

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Smokin' hot Bangor teacher talks about having to remove Christmas tree - because of "tolerance". "Liberalism Again" <typical.of.liberal.morons@hillaryclinton.com> - 2015-12-25 20:08 +0100
  Re: Smokin' hot Bangor teacher talks about having to remove Christmas tree - because of "tolerance". Siri Cruz <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2016-01-03 02:23 -0800

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