Parents shun art teacher's tactics

Sun-Times Pioneer Press
CaryGrove Countryside
By Craig A. Whitney

(IL) A group of Fox River Grove parents are circulating a petition, asking for the resignation of art teacher Dave Warwak.

Warwak, 44, was suspended with pay Sept. 4 by elementary School District 3 officials for allegedly advocating a vegan diet during class time. Vegans do not eat meat, nor to they use any animal products. Warwak remains a District 3 employee.

The petition was started by a man who has two children who attend Fox River Grove Middle School, where Warwak teaches art, said Cindy Pilz, a parent who signed the petition. As of now, the author of the petition wishes to remain anonymous, she added.

The petition is calling for Warwak's termination without compensation and further demands that he be barred from any further employment by the school district in any capacity.

Pilz said her fifth-grade daughter and eighth-grade son both had Warwak as a teacher this semester. She said he had influenced their children's thinking regarding their diets.

"They came home from school with new views and a short-lived desire to stop eating meat," Pilz said. "The older child came home with printed materials, and he was very open to Mr. Warwak's teachings about animal cruelty and veganism."

It wasn't so much the dietary discussion that raised Pilz' concerns as much as state of her children's studies.

"Several full school days had passed, and neither of my children had started an art project," Pilz said. She said she sent Warwak an e-mail, which she is not sure he had a chance to read before his suspension.

"I asked him to teach art and not distribute any more materials and to approach the School Board to start a club requiring parental consent related to whatever his interests were: animal rights and veganism," she said.

"If either of my children had asked to join, I would have let them," she added.

The petition is a means of letting school officials know where the parents stand on the matter, Pilz said.

Pilz said that the petition would be submitted Sept. 24, during the next scheduled District 3 School Board meeting or earlier if the district decides to schedule a special meeting on the matter.

Pilz stressed she does not bear any ill will toward the suspended art teacher. "I wish Mr. Warwak well," Pilz said.

Warwak said Monday he was not aware of the petition.

"Taxpayers are upset that they're paying my salary and that the administration doesn't know what to do," Warwak said. "So they're kind of putting some pressure on them. I think it's great. It's what the town needs to do, put pressure on them to make a decision. I'm tired of sitting at home. I want to teach these kids humane education through the guise of art. If they want me back, I'd love to come back."

"If they're going to fire me for teaching love and compassion, then they're going to be setting themselves up for all kinds of lawsuits and legal action, and they don't have any ground to stand on," Warwak said.

Aside from the petition that is circulating in Fox River Grove, Superintendent Jackie Krause sent a letter dated Sept. 12 to parents of students in Warwak's classes.

The letter states in part that concerns might have been raised about the content of Warwak's classes and whether he "may have turned his art classes into classes designed to promote veganism and animal rights."

The letter also reassures parents that their children are free to tell parents and school staff about what is going on at their school.

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And Pilz is busy on all fronts ... talking with media, circulating petitions, appearing before the Board of Education ... even coercing her own children to testify/lie in court. Anything to keep her 350LB+ son a corpse-munching 14 year-old.

This from the NW Herald: Cindy Pilz, 42, of Fox River Grove, described Warwak as a likable person and talented artist who was popular among students in part because he treated them as equals. Pilz said, "But his curriculum on veganism was self-serving."

Warwak says, “Veganism is about being respectful, responsible and caring of others and allowing children to have all sides of issues that matter to them most … about their own bodies and future survival on Earth---pertaining to have anything and everything to do with their lives … including veganism---and is not a self-serving agenda for a good teacher who cares about his world and has to look his students in the eyes everyday. Silence is complicity. My art curriculum’s highest goals are to show how artists shape and guide the values and morals of society. I showed this with the false (art) commercial advertising---the dairy industry’s Milk Mustache’ posters---shamelessly displayed in the student cafeteria.”

The real issue was---and still is---the school’s refusal to discuss these matters and their intentional crimes against humanity.