Re: Mission projects

As a retired public school teacher, I was disheartened to read of the celebration of institutionalized racism in the Family and Friends section of last Sunday’s Appeal-democrat. I am referring to the anachronistic fourth-grade “Mission Project” which sadly continues to be a curriculum staple in at least one local school.

I hope the teachers and parents lauded in the article will avail themselves of informational materials that clarify the oppressive and demeaning role the missions played in the lives of indigenous people throughout California. Rather than recreating models of slavery, perhaps future projects can emphasize a more balanced perspective on our collective past.

A wealth of resource material is available for teachers who wish to evolve away from the archaic “Mission Project” which has become entrenched in fourth-grade classrooms.

Here are two: http://chssp.ucdavis.edu/ blog/mission

Here readers will find a link to the newly adopted History-social Science Framework which states: “building missions from sugar cubes and popsicle sticks does not help students understand the period and is offensive to many.”

Impact of the California Missions on Native Americans: chssp.ucdavis.edu/blog/mission/ ucdhp-mission-lesson-final.pdf

At this link is a lesson plan available through The History Project at UC Davis that goes beyond the “traditional” replica construction and should facilitate transition to an improved curriculum.

Fourth-graders are fully capable of exploring the multiple perspectives of historical players.

Students should be encouraged to look at complex situations and to probe for valid viewpoints.

I hope next year’s Family and Friends will feature a new “take” on California missions and can lead the way for the next generation of fourth-graders as history detectives.

Andrea Ickes-dunbar report showed all five bidders’ rates and Recology was the lowest, but all are higher than what we have now.

Twice, Yuba City Council has paid Sloan Vazquez Mcafee to come in and do assessment on whether to renew the Recology contract or open Yuba City up for bids. Both times, Mcafee said to keep Recology, yet Yuba City has still been opened for bids. On the second assessment they said this was because the rates between Republic Services and Recology were “essentially a tie.” Although they didn’t take into account the amount of charities and donations Recology does for the community. The $190,000 a year goes to many nonprofits, school functions and over the next 10 years that could be $1,900,000, and I really think the city and those nonprofits will feel this loss.

During the past 20 months the people of Yuba City have tried to have their voices heard. During the meetings, when the public is invited, the overwhelming majority of residents and business owners tell city council that they would like to keep Recology, yet so far, they have been ignored. Ask yourself why this is happening, who caused this and I can assure you that someone caused this. I highly suggest that first, the City Council listens to its residents and find out who wants a different company? Oh wait, you did that already and it didn’t matter.

Logan Miller