Oregon teacher fired after veering from evolution textbook

Oregon teacher fired after veering from evolution textbook
Published: March 20, 2007

The Associated Press

SISTERS — During his eight days as a part-time biology teacher at Sisters High School, Kris Helphinstine included Biblical references in material he provided to students and gave a PowerPoint presentation that made links between evolution, Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood.

That was enough for the Sisters School Board, which fired the teacher Monday night for deviating from the curriculum on the theory of evolution.

"I think his performance was not just a little bit over the line," board member Jeff Smith said. "It was a severe contradiction of what we trust teachers to do in our classrooms."

Helphinstine, 27, said in a phone interview with The Bulletin newspaper of Bend that he included the supplemental material to teach students about bias in sources, and his only agenda was to teach critical thinking.

"Critical thinking is vital to scientific inquiry," said Helphinstine, who has a master's degree in science from Oregon State. "My whole purpose was to give accurate information and to get them thinking."

Helphinstine said he did not teach the idea that God created the world. "I never taught creationism," he said. "I know what it is, and I went out of my way not to teach it."

Parent John Rahm told the newspaper that he became concerned when his freshman daughter said she was confused by the supplemental material provided by Helphinstine.

"He took passages that had all kinds of Biblical references," Rahm said. "It prevented her from learning what she needed to learn."

Board members met with Helphinstine privately for about 90 minutes before the meeting. The teacher did not stay for the public portion.

"How many minds did he pollute?" Dan Harrison, the father of a student in Helphinstine's class, said at the meeting. "It's a thinly veiled attempt to hide his own agenda."

http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=219618

I wonder how many more out there are doing this on a regular basis with the school's quiet administrative approval? I live in an area where this kind of thing would be supported by many... not something I like to think about often, but do.
I like the "never taught creationism", cute.
His license should be revoked.

rkzenrage;324785 wrote:

His license should be revoked.

Isn't that a little harsh? I think he should be shot in the fucking head. You failed at life. The end.

I agree with separation of church and state. And this was definitely a violation of that and he shouldn't be teaching.

rkzenrage;324785 wrote:

I wonder how many more out there are doing this on a regular basis with the school's quiet administrative approval? I live in an area where this kind of thing would be supported by many... not something I like to think about often, but do.
I like the "never taught creationism", cute.
His license should be revoked.

I agree with you - this has no place in a public school.

The first line is what got me.

and gave a PowerPoint presentation that made links between evolution, Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood.

I know many teachers force their agendas on children but this is out of hand.

I wonder who brainwashed the teacher? Whenever I see stuff like this I think: Now there's a guy who can't think for himself. And he's teaching hungry little minds.

Unfortunately, not all teachers of this ilk are as bold and get away with it their entire career.

Beestie;324891 wrote:

Unfortunately, not all teachers of this ilk are as bold and get away with it their entire career.

My brother is one of them. He asks his class (an advanced physics and engineering high school class) what the most important things they have learned in his class are. They throw out all these scientific things, and then he politely reminds them that the three most important things are:
1. monkeys are evil and are not to be trusted
2. do a semester or a year studying abroad when you are in college
3. something else that I can't remember but is equally random

I don't think it's clear from the news story what the teacher was actually attempting to teach. From the details provided in the story, he could have been teaching creationism; or he could very well have been trying to teach critical thinking, like he said, by pointing out the absurdities in the creationism or intelligent design viewpoints.

During his eight days as a part-time biology teacher at Sisters High School, Kris Helphinstine included Biblical references in material he provided to students and gave a PowerPoint presentation that made links between evolution, Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood.

Eight days? It's not like he was a teacher for a whole year and after teaching regular curriculum he made an attempt to get them thinking outside the box. He started his propaganda from day one.

Teaching critical thinking. Very slimy attempt.

My history teacher taught us critical thinking by getting us to argue social issues but NOT religion. It's off limits for very obvious reasons.

poor judgment whatever his true agenda

Poor response, whatever anyone's true agenda.

"How many minds did he pollute?" Dan Harrison, the father of a student in Helphinstine's class, said at the meeting.

No idea that can legitimately stand on its own can be "polluted" by the presentation of an alternative point of view. I take more issue with the treatment of children as unthinking memorizer-zombies than with the brief murmur of religion.

Skunks;325066 wrote:

Poor response, whatever anyone's true agenda.



No idea that can legitimately stand on its own can be "polluted" by the presentation of an alternative point of view. I take more issue with the treatment of children as unthinking memorizer-zombies than with the brief murmur of religion.

To be redundant:

During his [SIZE="4"]eight days [/SIZE]as a part-time biology teacher at Sisters High School, Kris Helphinstine included [SIZE="4"]Biblical references [/SIZE]in material he provided to students and gave a [SIZE="4"]PowerPoint presentation that made links between evolution, Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood. [/SIZE]

Brief murmur? I don't think so!

What is a Masters degree in "Science"?

Skunks;325066 wrote:

... No idea that can legitimately stand on its own can be "polluted" by the presentation of an alternative point of view. ...

Evolution can "legitimately stand on its own" according to an indisputable concensus, based on an overwhelming preponderance of evidence. It is under no threat from creationist claptrap, in the minds of educated adults. But we're talking about schoolchildren here, who are in a Science class. A transparent agenda to promote religious dogma is in no possible way "an alternative point of view" in a Science class.

PowerPoint presentation that made links between evolution, Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood.

Now tell me what this means. To me: Zero. There is not one detail sufficient to draw anything but a classic emotional conclusion. For that matter, I want to see those links - that presentation. Either it is as others have only speculated, or it is a rather interesting analysis of perspective.

This is the same exact complain I had with so many here who believed George Jr's lies about WMDs. Those lies were justified by the exact same superficial assumptions being made here about this guy's presentation.

Well maybe those who decided to fire him first learned those details. Or maybe they used the same rational being used here. I don't know. What I do know is that people here have opinions without learning any of the necessary and sufficient details. That article tells us not one sufficient fact for anyone to have an opinion. The only thing we do know is that school administrators did meet with the teacher for 90 minutes before firing him. When is that sufficient for anyone here to have an opinion?

grant;325091 wrote:

What is a Masters degree in "Science"?

Shirley, you jest!

http://www.drscience.com/
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][FONT=Comic Sans MS][FONT=Comic Sans MS]How does Dr. Science know the secrets of the universe? He has a Masters Degree ... in Science![/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

Flint;325093 wrote:

Evolution can "legitimately stand on its own" according to an indisputable concensus, based on an overwhelming preponderance of evidence. It is under no threat from creationist claptrap, in the minds of educated adults. But we're talking about schoolchildren here, who are in a Science class. A transparent agenda to promote religious dogma is in no possible way "an alternative point of view" in a Science class.

I don't mean to say that what he did was right; simply that highschool students should be beyond the "impressionable" stage. To the point, at least, that a few bogus ideas will not 'pollute' them.

tw;325188 wrote:

Now tell me what this means. To me: Zero. There is not one detail sufficient to draw anything but a classic emotional conclusion. For that matter, I want to see those links - that presentation. Either it is as others have only speculated, or it is a rather interesting analysis of perspective.

This is the same exact complain I had with so many here who believed George Jr's lies about WMDs. Those lies were justified by the exact same superficial assumptions being made here about this guy's presentation.

Well maybe those who decided to fire him first learned those details. Or maybe they used the same rational being used here. I don't know. What I do know is that people here have opinions without learning any of the necessary and sufficient details. That article tells us not one sufficient fact for anyone to have an opinion. The only thing we do know is that school administrators did meet with the teacher for 90 minutes before firing him. When is that sufficient for anyone here to have an opinion?

So, you think we should discuss a conspiracy involving the school administration and possibly the reporters lying about the Power Point presentation and what was said to the students?

They should have warned him not to show it again and then fired him if he did or made references to his religious views in school if this was a public school.

well at least he only lasted eight days. Afterall, It took god himself to make the whole world in seven so.....no harm done and kudos to the school district for severing that ugly head.

Someone could put a nice little bow on those items (evolution,nazis, and PP) if he was talking about eugenics but I daresay he was probably way outside of the curriculum.

rkzenrage;325228 wrote:

So, you think we should discuss a conspiracy involving the school administration and possibly the reporters lying about the Power Point presentation and what was said to the students?

Had I been giving the presentation, I would have also added propaganda from Listerine. But then I am now proposing a teacher's presentation that was completely different ... and still in complete agreement with the news report.

rkzenrage - you have implied one interpretation of the facts. That is also why I could saw through myths called 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'. I did not draw conclusions based in spin or implicataions. I used only facts and discovered many other 'realities'.

Well the school administration apparently sees things differently. Were they right? Not a single lurker here can say. Facts as posted here could say he was demonstrating example of spin and propaganda. Can you point to a fact that says otherwise? Only one. The school administration apparently concluded - and we can only speculate on this - concluded that he was not doing as the teacher claimed.

Nothing in those power point descriptions says anything definitive; only that a parent viewed the power point slides and drew a conclusion. We don't even know what the school administration concluded. Was the teacher promoting god? We only know what school board actions were.

Yeah.. I can see how this confuses some.. LOL! It's so vague.:3_eyes:

included Biblical references in material he provided to students and gave a PowerPoint presentation that made links between evolution, Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood.

rkzenrage;325473 wrote:

Yeah.. I can see how this confuses some.. LOL! It's so vague.

included Biblical references in material he provided

How do we discuss the Spanish Inquisition without discussiing biblical references that justified it? Oh. We just say the Spanish Inquisition is evil - completely ignore reasons why? Any discussion without underlying reasons is nothing more than propaganda. How would we discuss this logically without details - those Biblical references?

How do you discuss religious propaganda verse Nazi propaganda verses science of evolution when not including biblical references that are used as propaganda?

Nothing here says what the teacher did was for a logical discussion. School board actions imply otherwise. But we don't make decisions based in summary judgements. We make decisions based upon 'reasons why'. We have from that news article 'no reasons'. We have only enough to speculate two completely different conclusions. From those facts in a classic 'Daily News' type report, both incompatible conclusions are correct. That just cannot be. Newspaper facts are woefully insufficient for anything but wild speculation.

Only facts provided: 1) school board decision, 2) parent viewed power point slides, and 3) references were made to Bible quotes. We don't even know what those quotes were. IOW we have near zero information to make a decision about the teacher's intents.

footfootfoot;325197 wrote:

[quote=grant]
What is a Masters degree in "Science"?

Shirley, you jest!
[/QUOTE]

I'm serious...and don't call me Shirley!