The debate over when and how to stage May Day came up again last week and it has us wondering when this will ever end.
Supporters of May Day went before the New Westminster School Board to ask trustees to change their minds about having dance instruction time take place after school.
Dance instruction for May Day used to occur during school hours, but now takes place outside of instruction time. The change was made earlier this year, before the annual celebration took place on May 1.
Supporters of the event said this change had a damaging effect on student involvement in May Day.
According to Kathy (Gifford) Glassie - May Queen in 1975 - fewer kids participated in the May Day dancing this year.
Former school board trustee Brent Atkinson told trustees there were half as many may poles as usual.
“My major concern is, a lot of students can’t participate,” he said, adding some kids have both parents working or are committed to other after-school activities.
Another May Day supporter, Lorraine Brett, spoke about what the kids learn during this instruction.
“I’m asking the trustees to reconsider the notion that the knowledge and skills transmitted through the teachers to the students that relates to the dance and music of this living cultural heritage - let it be reinstated,” she said.
On this last point, we’re highly skeptical about how much knowledge or how many skills the kids really get from this event.
It seems dubious there is much learning going on, which is why we support moving the instruction to after school.
Schools are under so much pressure to deliver an increasingly complicated and demanding curriculum to students. They need as much time as possible to focus on things that are, frankly, far more important than teaching kids to dance around a pole.
So it makes sense to not eat up hours paid for by taxpayers on instruction. Perhaps now it’s time to hold the actual event after school. Even better, how about a society be formed to take this entire community event out of the school district’s hands? This really feels more like a community event than a school district and taxpayer-funded event.
