Dear Editor of Culver City News,
My name is Kevin Mitchell and I am a student at Culver City High School. I write to inform you of plans for a student protest in front of the school from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. on the morning of Thursday, February 10. We are protesting the release of Sheila Silver, who serves as an English and Drama teacher during the school day as well as the Creative Director of the Theatre Department of the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA). She has been told that she is “not a good fit for the school and even more so for AVPA.”
This reasoning could not be further from the truth. For many of us, Sheila Silver is one of the most inspiring, productive, active, and caring teachers we have ever had. She has led us to earn substantial theatrical awards that have put us on the map for high school theatre in California. In addition, she has fostered genuine growth and interdependency within AVPA theatre and her daytime classes. In the short time she has worked with us, we have become a tight-knit family where people look after each other, create together, and, most of all, work together through whatever personal problems we may have to put out the best work possible.
In short, Sheila Silver has done the job she is hired to do and more.
I hope you will join us on Thursday morning as our community’s students stand up against a gross injustice.
Sincerely,
Kevin Mitchell
Culver City High School Student
