BHS History 101: "Sever the roots that bind"

If I were still a pimple-pocked upstart I'd have my spitballs loaded and ready for the next time any teacher tried to instill the importance of history at Bainbridge High.

Such lessons are suddenly laughably hypocritical at BHS, because outside the classroom window living pieces of history are being ripped from the campus grounds.

The papers are carrying stories, photos and letters about how BHS plans to chop down a cluster of blooming cherry trees planted some 70 years ago as a gift from the Japanese-American Community. They are, apparently, in the way of a building expansion. The school district says it hasn't enough money to move the trees, despite pleas and assurances from Island tree experts that the trees could be safely relocated.

Money, back-hoes, new bricks and mortar aside, what kind of lesson is this for the students?

In defense of the school's decision to hack the trees, school board prez Bruce Weiland is quoted in the Bainbridge Review as saying: "Our mission is to educate kids," and not, perhaps, to worry about trees. True, but what is education without the values associated with it? Learning about history is not simply cramming names and dates into young heads. It's also about learning to revere history, to value the stories that tell us why and who we are today, and to feel rooted to the past.

If I were a young BHS scholar, I'd fire a wet, pulpy one square in the eye of the school administration, hit the library and kickback with some good Island history under a shady cherry tree.