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A student proposed dance becomes news across Canada. The news
made headlines in Winnipeg and as far away as Vancouver.
The dance proposed by students of Garden Valley Collegiate
in Winkler, Manitoba, to be a school sponsored activity, was
rejected by the school's board of trustees in a 6 - 4 vote. The
students had the full support of the teachers, but the majority
of the board of trustee members felt that dances were problematic
and did not support the proposed idea.
The rejected dance first made headlines in the "Winkler
Times" and then appeared in the "Winnipeg Sun."
All the radio talk shows got hold of the story and began interviewing
trustees and students and aired the story. Then a radio station
out of Winnipeg, 92 CITI FM, got hold of the story and blew it
way out proportion, says Marvin Loewen one of the trustees who
voted in favor of the dance.
Loewen felt the reason for all the media attention was that
being a largely Mennonite community the people here are held
to a higher standard. He also felt that all the publicity was
not a good thing because for the most part the articles were
making fun of the people and the community. However, he did go
on to say that all the attention that the issue received could
affect the outcome if the idea is proposed again.
"Next time I think we'll think really carefully on how
we [board of trustees] decide," responded Loewen.
Check
out the related story by Reg Froese of
Garden Valley Collegiate Winkler, Manitoba |
