Standing up for my children

Tonight as I sat down to check my email I received the normal POTW from friends, updates and newsletters from teachers, and junk.   While reading this weeks plan for my elementary children I found an attached letter from the room mother of my 4th grade sons class.  It addressed the yearly fund raising basket they are gathering items for to auction off at the Fall Festival in November.  I was shocked to see that the theme of the basket this year is "Wine Tasting".   She asked for donations of wine, wine glasses, wine tags, food pairings, and other related items.

I was so shocked by the lack of consideration for our youth in promoting the liqueur culture, I decided it was up to me to make a stand for my 9 year old son and his classmates. This is my response to their request for donations. Keep in mind that this is my sons 4th grade class basket for an upcoming fundraising auction.

Dear Ms. ................

Are you set with the theme of “Wine Tasting” for the Fall Festival Basket for Mrs. ..........'s 4th grade class? I feel that an alcohol theme is highly inappropriate for a school based activity and strongly suggest creating a basket more appropriate for children and families. I know that the students know the theme of the baskets being developed and the donations are collected in class. I am very uncomfortable having this kind of product on school property, moreover, in my child’s class room. I don’t feel that an adult beverage is acceptable in a 4th grade setting and we should ask our children to stand behind an adult product.

At this point, due to the theme of the basket, our family will not be donating anything. If you change the theme, please let me know as we would love to assist in the building of a basket.

Thank you,
Crystal Chatelain


I sent this email to the room mother, the 4th grade teacher, the principle of the elementary school, the district superintendent, and channel 5 news.


*UPDATE*
I received a phone call from the principle at my sons elementary school this morning (Monday).  He informed me that my email was the first he knew about the theme of "Wine Tasting" for the basket.  He said that he had a call into the room mother of the class and had already talked to the teacher about the theme and that it would be changed.

**UPDATE**
I received and email from the teacher tonight (Monday) indicating that the basket has been cancelled.