Letter: River Valley should take page from YCHS

I am currently a substitute teacher in YC. However, since September I no longer will work at RVHS, due to the gang-like mentality caused by the block system. RVHS teachers allow students to listen to their iPods during class to keep them quiet. I didn’t allow iPods and was heckled with obscentities and received gang-like abuse. This has never happened to me at YCHS.

I was appalled when the microphone was yanked from the hands of the president of the YC Teachers’ Association, Dina Luetgenís,  when she began to say why the YCHS teachers were against the block schedule. Why didn’t they let any YCHS teachers speak? In theory, the 90 minute-classes sound good, but in reality students can’t sit that long, just as business meetings should never go over one hour. They should leave both schools as they are, so students and parents have a choice. Students don't have time to get from one school to another between classes without being tardy anyway.

In my opinion, RVHS should be emulating YCHS in many ways, even beyond the class schedules, not  the other way around. The board members should sit in on a few classes at RVHS to see what the reality is for the block schedule before trying to change YCHS. The RVHS students showed their immaturity, disrespect, and lack of discipline at the meeting with their screams, even after they were asked to stop. YCHS has a much more mature campus and should not be changed to emulate RVHS.

Cheryl Miller
YC Unified Substitute Teacher, Yuba City