In Search of an El Cid or Don Quixote
Not far away, atop an arid, fertile, elevated plateau west of the ancient city of Granada, is La Mancha. Among other things, it is a place of windmills. It is in the setting of these wind-swept plains that we encounter Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes mythical 16th century literary character, Don Quixote, along with his neighbor cum squire, Sancho Panza and trusty steed, Rocinante. Don Quixote is a simple man, pure of heart. He is a man seeking justice and right. In the end however, we will remember him most, as a man who lived in a fantasy world and titled at windmills.
Peter O’Toole played Don Quixote in the movie version of Man of La Mancha. One can not forget the beautiful, and I might say, still hot, Sophia Loren as Dulcinia. Their performance was fun to watch. I hope you enjoy it.
Peter O’Toole’s Man from La Mancha
Another notable character in Spanish lore is El Cid Campeador. Unlike Don Quixote, El Cid was real.
Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (El Cid) was born in 1040 to an aristocratic family in Castillona de Bivar, a small town about six miles north of Burgos, the capital of Castile. His father was a courtier, bureaucrat, and cavalryman. His mother came from an aristocratic family. He was a Castilian nobleman, military leader and a diplomat. “El Cid" which comes from the Spanish article el (meaning "the"), and the dialectal Arabic word سيد sîdi or sayyid, which means "Lord" or "The Master", was educated in the royal court of Castile and became the chief general under Spain’s King Alfonso VI. El Sid’s story, is a tale of intrigue, murder, exile, heroism and victory over the Moors at the Battle for Valencia. He is considered one of Spain’s greatest national hero’s.
“For God! For Cid! For Spain!”
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.
The city of Granada, with a population of 250,000 to 350,000 depending on the source and whether or not one counts the students, is placed at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of rivers, Beiro, Darro and Genil. It sits at an elevation of 2,421 feet above sea level and is only one hour from the Mediterrean coast, the “Costa Tropical.”
Grenada is a place of learning. The University of Granada is located there. Each year over 10,000 students study at the Modern Languages Center, learning the Spanish language and about Spain’s rich culture; including two members of EMSD#63 Administration; current Superintendent Scott Clay and Ms. Lynn Glickman, our current Executive Director of Personnel and Pupil Services.
History:
Wikipedia: “From the time historical records began Granada was ruled by many Caliphs, Arabic sultans and dynasties. The Arabic/Moslem empire once stretched right up into the north of Spain. The various Christian groups settled their differences, joined together and steadily drove the Arabs out of Spain. Granada was the last stronghold and finally succumbed to Isabel and Ferdinand (the catholic monarchs) in 1492. The Moslems and the Jews were forced to leave the country or convert to Christianity. A period of what would nowadays be described as ethnic cleansing ensued. At the same time Christopher Columbus came to Granada to ask Isabel and Ferdinand for a grant to build ships so that he could conquer the Americas. They gave him the money and I am sure you already know the rest.”
Cultural activities in modern Granada include:
Bull Fights
Art & Music
Arab Music & Dance
Also Flamenco Dancing
Wine & Tapas
EMSD#63 did not have to send highly paid personnel to Spain to have a “Spanish Experience.” By applying a little time, imagination and ingenuity, as I have done in this example, our highly paid administration could have produced a more-than-adequate result, providing additional EMSD#63 personnel the opportunity learn about Spain and its rich language. Further an in-house approach would have gone a long way to save taxpayers thousands of dollars. Let me give our East Maine School District Board Members and Administrators some additional examples:
Experiencing Spanish Cuisine
Experiencing Spanish Culture
- Youtube
- Spanish Literature – English Translation
- Spanish Literature – Spanish
- Flamenco Dancing Classes
- Spanish Guitar Music & Lessons
Experiencing the Spanish Language
Recently, I submitted an e-mail to Dr. Clay, asking for specific information on the Spanish dialects spoken in EMSD#63. He curtly advised me to submit a FOIA.
FOIA - 100607-001 Response EMails
The District’s Administration spent thousands of dollars on “Spanish Language & Culture” in Spain while ignoring the actual Spanish dialects spoken by our “Spanish-speaking” students and their parents. If the District had been in such dire need, a need that required them to send these two highly paid administrators out of country for Spanish Language Immersion, the Board should have sent them to Mexico, where most of our Spanish-speaking students come from.
There is no such need, and Board President Wojtkiewicz, you have no right to squander our hard earned tax dollars for a problem that doesn’t exist!
District #207 Taxpayers
District # 207 Taxpayers, you think the goings on at EMSD#63 doesn’t effect you? You couldn’t be more wrong. In my opinion, this administration has indirectly squandered your money too. Every underprepared EMSD#63 graduate costs you money.
District #207 residents need to start paying attention!
I have been waiting since 2004 for an El Cid-like figure to emerge on EMSD#63’s Board. None has. At this point, I would settle for a Don Quixote. So far, I haven’t found either!
12 comments:
Mr. Butterly,
Since you state the purpose of your blog as Revealing Information School Boards, Administrators, Teachers and Taxpayers Need to Know, I am certain you would want to make sure your information is as accurate as possible. When reading your post about District 63and the language immersion program in Spain, I noticed at least one inaccuracy and some omitted details.
Please let your readers know that only two District 63 employees have ever been sent to the immersion program. The text of your post states four administrators have been sent. This is not an accurate statement. It would also seem to be pertinent to inform the public that the trip took place in 2006, under different economic conditions than exist today. Readers of your post may assume this took place recently. It is common to spend well over a $1000 to send an employee of any profession to a two to three day conference. The immersion program, at the cost of $2600, was three weeks of intensive instruction in the Spanish language, which included airfare, housing, all meals, and 3 weeks of classes. The cost to the taxpayers was a total of $5200 for two principals to learn a language that a quarter of our families speak. While I appreciate your concern regarding the allocation of taxpayer funds, your assertion that the money was not a necessary expenditure slights our district’s goal of meeting the needs of all of our families, including our Hispanic students.
Your contention that learning Spanish in Spain is inappropriate for Spanish speakers from Mexico is pedagogically inaccurate. Every language in the world has regional dialects that require both the speaker and listener to adjust his/her vocabulary, phrasing, etc. Contending that someone who speaks a Spanish dialect cannot teach children with a Mexican dialect is akin to saying an American English speaker could not effectively teach children from the United Kingdom.
Although you may choose not to post this, I appreciate you taking the time to read it. I’m sure you will agree, it is important for both of us to present fair and accurate information.
Sincerely,
Dr. Scott Clay, Superintendent
East Maine School District 63
Dr. Clay,
Thank you for your comments.
1. As to the “four administrators” headline; that was immediately revised upon receipt of the email late last week informing me that no administrators were to be sent to Spain this year as I had been led to believe. You obviously visited the site before Friday’s change.
2. Your immersion course took place in 2006. It is true that the situation in 2010 is not same as existed 2006. However, EMSD#63 was not “flush” with cash in 2006. Your $5,200 in transportation could have purchased more books and school supplies for the children of Stevenson school, the very children you indicated the District wished to support. Further, based on my current “lowball” estimate, the District squandered an additional $16,000 in pay and fringe for you and Ms. Glickman’s working-vacation.
3. Dr. Clay, it was your wish and Ms. Glickmans wish to learn conversational Spanish, in Spain. There were many Spanish learning options in 2006 as there are today, including local Spanish classes offered at Oakton, Rosetta Stone computer software, as well as Spanish immersion courses in Mexico.
It was your job to learn Spanish at your expense, if you thought that learning Spanish would be helpful to your current job or career. You stated in your email to Stevenson School on March 13th, 2006 the following: “ It has been my goal since coming to District 63 to learn to speak Spanish and I am sorry to say I have only taken very small steps toward this.” Dr. Clay, you took small steps because learning Spanish was not a priority. I believe it did not become a priority until the opportunity to travel to Spain came along. Further, your personal goals ,or that of Ms. Glickman’s, were not the concern of EMSD#63 taxpayers in 2006 any more than they are now.
4. Ultimately, Dr. Clay, my concern with this subject revolves around the Board’s decision to participate in this boondoggle.
5. As to your training; based on the brochure, you received 48 hours of Spanish classroom time plus an additional 12 hours lecture time (in English). Lectures that included the following subjects: “Spain Today”, “Multicultural Dimensions of Modern Spain”, “Education Policy”, “Youth in Education, etc.” At mid-day you were then encouraged to participate in non-classroom activities to hone your newly acquired language skills and to learn more about your host country.
6. Three weeks of half-day schooling is just enough time for a new speaker to get a feel for the language and to learn a few useful phrases. ¿dónde está el baño? Where’s the bathroom? ¿Cuánto cuesta el taxi al aeropuerto? How much is the taxi to the airport? He perdido la llave de mi habitación. ¿Puedo tener otro? I lost the key to my room. May I have another?
Dr. Clay, I seriously doubt if your language skills progressed much beyond the useful phrase level in such short a time. I could be wrong. The important questions of course are: Did you continue your studies when you returned to the District? Under what conditions did you use your new language skills on behalf of District #63? How often?
Proficiency in any language requires among other things, continuous repetition. Your job as Principal and now as Superintendent does not require your speaking Spanish throughout the day. As we say with computer languages: don’t use it, you loose it.”
Así que, ¿cómo te va en el desarrollo de sus conocimientos del idioma español?
Mr. Butterly,
Your post still says four administrators were sent to Spain...check out the text, last parapraph before you address the board president in red type.
I will address your other erroneous comments soon.
Sincerely,
Dr. Clay
Dr. Clay,
I missed that one. Your eyes are obviously better than mine. Thank you.
I am glad that that you are going to address my "other erroneous comments" in the future and I look forward to seeing what they might be.
Your comments and observations are always welcome.
Mr. Butterly:
You sure got Dr. Clay's attention!!!
Dr. Clay you sound a little defensive!
"If the District had been in such dire need, a need that required them to send these two highly paid administrators out of country for Spanish Language Immersion, the Board should have sent them to Mexico, where most of our Spanish-speaking students come from."
ppppppppppfffffffffffffftttttttttt!
For the much less expensive cost of cab fare, there and back, the district could have sent them to the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago! They could get all the same darn "language immersion"..."culture immersion"...and "cuisine immersion" (I recommend the homemade tamales!)...any English speaking suburbanite could ever want!
Mr. Butterly,
My responses to your six points:
1. Thank you for correcting the number of District 63 employees sent to the immersion program.
2. The total cost to the district for two principals to be sent to the immersion program was $5200. No other expenses were incurred. Your contention that our salaries are part of that expense is ludicrous. Ms. Lynn Glickman and I were in the immersion program on official school district business. We both conducted district business through electronic communication during the entire three week period. Our jobs still had to be performed. There is no one who “substitutes” for administrators when they are out of the office. Whether we would have been in the district, on vacation, sick, or in Spain for those 3 weeks, our salary would not have changed.
It also appears that you and I have a very different idea of what constitutes a vacation. Daily classes in the Spanish language, organized immersion activities, required daily homework, and lectures are far from the picture of a leisurely vacation that you are trying to create. The Spanish classes were conducted in Spanish as were all lectures, tours, etc. It was truly a full immersion program, right down to communicating in the cafeteria to receive our meals.
3. It was our wish to learn Spanish to help us to communicate with the families of our respective schools. The Spanish government subsidizes the cost of these programs which is why a 3 week program, with 3 weeks of lodging, and 3 weeks of meals is only $1400. The Mexican government, to my knowledge, was not making a similar offer. Also Mr. Butterly, you really seem to be missing the point that immersion is considered the most effective way of learning a language. Computer programs and Oakton College do not offer immersion.
You are mistaken when you say it was my personal goal to learn Spanish. It was my professional goal to better serve the families of my school. There is nothing questionable about that desire and your contention that it is anything else is extremely insulting.
4. I understand that your main concern is to convince the public that the Board of Education wastes money in order to prevent any future referendums from being passed. Referring to a $5,000 expenditure out of a $40 million+ budget from four years ago as a “boondoggle” seems like quite an exaggeration.
5. The Spanish classes were conducted in Spanish as were all lectures, tours, etc. It was truly a full immersion program, right down to communicating in the cafeteria to receive our meals.
6. Again, you seem to miss the idea of how an immersion program actually works. It was far more than half day schooling as I described above. I take umbrage that a principal’s job does not require him or her to speak Spanish. A huge part of the principalship is communication with parents and as superintendent, I expect all of our principals to constantly seek ways to improve that communication. What could improve that communication more than being able to speak or write in the native language of more than a quarter of the school population?
Mr. Butterly, we have both spent far more time addressing a relatively small expenditure that took place four years ago than is really warranted. I will not be responding to this post any further.
Sincerely,
Dr. Scott Clay
Superintendent
East Maine School District 63
Dr. Clay,
I have come to the conclusion, based upon these discussions, that my next contribution to mutually beneficial dialogue, would be best served with a new blog posting.
Defensive??? Mr. Butterly writes a post in an attempt to spark outrage. People are supposed to say, "People going to Spain?!?!!? With my tax dollars??? I am outraged!!!!" The problem is he completely misrepresents what happened (purposely???). 4 versus 2, admin. versus teachers. He makes it seem as if the admin. gave themselves a vacation. He then claims that he fixed it but he did not. His answer?? "I missed that one". Mr Clay points this out and that makes him defensive?? Of course if he did not answer the posts that would mean he did not care, right???
Anon June 26, 2010 9:08AM,
A fascinating although somewhat overstated post.
1.) “Defensive???” So I asked, who is defensive? Have I used that word? So, I performed a word search that included all of my blog posting. Nope, never used the word “defensive.” So then I thought, maybe this commenter saw the word under one or more comment sections. The results of the second word search for “defensive” could only be attributed to: Anonymous June 15, 2010 1:25 PM and your comments, today.
2.) I wrote a post to inform my readers and to find out what they thought. I expected a response. You responded. Your comments were spellbinding. I could see that you gave everything you had to that comment. You would have better served however, had the read the post in its entirety. As stated at the bottom in bright red, the people responsible for your “outrage” as you put it, were President Jane Wojtkiewicz and the rest of EMSD#63’s School Board. Rules of the game are pretty simple. Superintendent proposes. Board disposes. The Board could have just said no!
By the way, you must be a slow burner. The post you referenced was dated June 7th. The comments you referenced was dated June 15th. Today is June 26th. What took you so long?
And you dear reader, have a right to your opinion!
Great information! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks!I think you made a very fine analysis of this situation. Thanks for sharing! I hope all your readers will vote for truth.
I was lucky to find this emsd63review.blogspot.com site. What a wonderful blog! I admire how appointed each of the entries are. They are well balanced - entertaining and informative - and the pictures are cool too.
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