Students Rally Behind Teacher in Pleasant Valley

THIS STORY IS A REPRINT FROM THE MORNING CALL
May 13, 2007
Students rally behind teacher
In protest at Pleasant Valley, they dispute accusations in lawsuit.
By Daniel Patrick Sheehan Of The Morning Call
By all accounts, the roadside protest outside Pleasant Valley High School on Saturday would have warmed the heart of the man it was held to support, a history teacher named Bruce H. Smith who has a Mr. Chips-like reputation among current and former students but whose teaching methods have prompted a federal lawsuit against the district.

According to many of the 60 or so protestors toting signs supporting Smith and denouncing the suit, the veteran teacher is a marvel of classroom creativity and energy who preaches independent thinking and inspires even the most reluctant learners with his lessons.

According to the lawsuit, however, filed by plaintiffs identified as John and Jane Doe, those lessons have included exposing minors to graphic photos of nude female murder victims and inappropriate conversations about Smith's sexual exploits.

It also claims Smith directed students to his memoir, a 700-plus-page volume that includes graphic depictions of sexual encounters.

The suit says the plaintiffs asked the Monroe County district to address Smith's methods, and claims school officials retaliated against them by making their names public and allowing Smith to contact them to ''somehow excuse his offensive, sexual conduct.''

The suit names the district, school board, high school Principal John Gress and Superintendent Frank Pullo, but not Smith. It seeks injunctions against ''retaliatory conduct'' and the ''abuse and corruption'' of minors that result from Smith's lessons, plus unspecified punitive damages. The plaintiffs' attorney, Cynthia Pollick of Pittston, Luzerne County, could not be reached for comment Saturday.

School board Vice President John Sabia said directors can't discuss the suit because it is a personnel matter. Smith, Pullo and Gress could not be reached.

Students say the suit is an exercise in out-of-context distortions. Smith's lessons include frank talk and exposure to graphic imagery, they said, but in the name of teaching history without whitewashing it.

The murder photos, for example, showed victims slain in a rampage by followers of the hippie-era cultist Charles Manson. Smith also shares imagery of the Holocaust and other historical crimes, though students said he always warns them beforehand and gives them the option of leaving the room.

''He figured we could all handle this because we were all becoming adults,'' said Ashley Getz, who graduated last year. ''You shouldn't censor something so interesting.

''It's history. It happened,'' she added, shouting over the blare of car horns honked in support by passing motorists.

If Smith asked female students what they wear during pillow fights, as alleged in the suit, it was undoubtedly a sarcastic rhetorical question aimed at undercutting media portrayals of women, the students said.

Seniors Aliya Kenyatta and Maalik Cohen, both 17, said Smith is widely regarded as the best teacher in the school. ''He's always been a gentleman,'' said Cohen, adding Smith has encouraged him to follow his dream of becoming an actor.

Kenyatta said students were never given copies of Smith's explicit memoir. ''He didn't even say, 'Go and get it.' He just told us about it,'' she said.

Students who read the book called it an honest coming-of-age account and said it contained nothing more offensive than the material they are exposed to through movies and television.

The suit was first made public by The Smoking Gun, a Web site that posts court documents, police blotters, mug shots and similar items often pertaining to celebrities in trouble.

When students learned about it, they decided to hold a rally, spreading word through MySpace, Facebook and other social networking Web sites popular among young people.

''I'm an education major, and he had a big impact on me,'' said Kasey Nieves, a 20-year-old senior at East Stroudsburg University holding a sign that read ''Honk If You Love Smith.''

''Any lesson I have to make up, I think of him,'' Nieves said. ''Even kids who didn't want to learn, he could get through to them.''