I had been putting off write my blog post this week because I was hoping I would be able to report in my progress report that I had received the Board of Education minutes I had requested through the Freedom of Information Act. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I was thrown off because I reached out to the contact person listed for this information, Ms. Cushman, on February 14th and she got back to me on February 15th saying she would get the documents to me in the next few days. I was surprised by the quick response and looking forward to getting the documents, but all last week I waited for an email that never came. I understand it can be hard to get the documents together, especially since they’re from the mid-2000s, but because her email conveyed she would be able to get the files together rather quickly I was expecting them sometime during this past week. Now that they haven’t come, I’m not sure what to do.                

I know I should be reaching out soon to double-check that she is getting the documents in order, but I’m not sure what a polite amount of time is. I don’t want to be nagging or too aggressive because then she won’t be inclined to help me at all. At the same time, is there a reason she hasn’t gotten the documents to me yet? I’m wondering if there’s some issue because they don’t want us to have the documents dealing with the censorship case, even though the information in them that pertain to our case would be minimal. I’ll give it until mid-week and then I’ll consult with Sean before emailing the contact again.                                                        

In more uplifting news, when Sean and I spoke with the student who wrote the op-ed about the book challenge she gave us great insight into the student perspective on censorship and a new name to investigate. When we asked her what she remembered, she was able to point us in the direction of a teacher who was involved in the case, Carole. Though the teacher is now retired, the student, Carly, assured us she was very active on Facebook, so we could try to reach out to her that way. I totally understand why some people might be apprehensive about contacting people over Facebook because it can seem like an invasion of privacy; I hoping that if I am polite and courteous and explain that we would’ve reached out over email if we had the opportunity, the teacher will be open to speaking with us, even if it’s just answering a few questions. It will definitely give us a new perspective on book challenges

I’m very excited about the direction our Rainbow Boys project is taking because it feels like something that’s not often investigated. Students should be the priority when it comes to what content to include in schools, but not a lot of people showcase their opinions. The same goes for the teachers and librarians tasked with the content. I think this will help shape our project.