Wednesday, Nov. 13 marked another week to admire the color red for students and staff in celebration of Red for Ed. A founder of the North Carolina Red for Ed. movement for teacher’s rights and education, Mrs. Scioli, History teacher, wrote a letter explaining what motivates her to be a teacher. Scioli’s Open Letter from a Teacher: I’ve Become a Professional Demonstrator has set a blazing red flame of inspired ritualistic participation in the education movement; most notably in Senora Sollie’s Spanish III class.
The idea to drastically elevate the celebration of Red for Ed. began in hushed whispers among the red adorned class of 30, as each set of eyes transfixed on a tree holding many shades of crimson red leaves. For Sollie’s students, the leaves caused intrigue and outrage; how was it fair that an unthinking tree was allowed to grow and outshine their red clothes naturally in brilliant shades of red?
Thus, students began a symbolic protest. By taking the red leaves from the tree and rolling around in them, red leaves falling upon red clad students falling on the floor, metaphorically emboding the death of educational rights in North Carolina.
The physical spectacle caught the attention of this reporter, documenting their heroic protest as the Festivus of Red for Ed.
Every Wednesday in Sollie’s class is now dedicated to this ritual of rolling around the classroom floor as falling, dead leaves; these red leaves representative of each student falling to the failing education system.
However, as the season transitions from fall to winter and there are no more glorious red leaves to emulate, Sollie’s students will instead produce ghostly groans and shrieks; the intent to show that unless North Carolina’s failing education system resolves its errors, the future of North Carolinian students will die.
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