It’s possible that the sky really is falling

Mary Kidd Flemming
Published: February 21, 2008

At the last School Board meeting, I was approached by a School Board member before the meeting began. He wanted to know where I got the information that the arts were headed toward the chopping block, yet affirmed that fine arts teachers may not be teaching fine arts next year.

     I said that no arts teachers would equal no arts classes. He replied, "I just hope we don't have Henny Pennies running around." I responded that parents and students decided to speak without being coerced by anyone, because we believe the arts to be valuable.

Henny Penny is a character from a childhood story. After a tiny acorn falls on her head, she goes on a mission to tell the king of impending disaster when  she rushes to the judgment that the sky must be falling.

Wikipedia, for what it is worth, states: "The phrase, 'The sky is falling,' has passed into the English language as a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent. This usage is generally derogatory."

Despite our best efforts at giving our children a living lesson in peaceful and respectful civic duty, we will be seen by some as "Henny-Pennying" the issue. After further thought, I found that there truly was a correlation between the efforts of concerned parents and students and this proverb.

As a parent, taxpayer and voter, I need to know who is spending my tax dollars and how these dollars are being spent, in the best interest of my children. The more I learn about impending budget problems with the BOS and School Board, the more I have felt one acorn after another falling in Culpeper. So I can either be silent or speak, although some think it is much ado about nothing.

There are at least three endings to the Henny Penny story. In all the versions, Henny Penny and her fellow pilgrims discover they do not know the way to the king. So, Foxy Loxy offers to assist them. Version One: Foxy Loxy leads them to a cave. No one knows exactly what happens to them after that, but the problem goes away. Version Two: He eats them all except for Henny Penny, who goes back home with her feathers tucked under, never to be heard of again. Version Three: The see-I- told-you-so version, where just as Foxy Loxy reaches out to eat his first victim, the sky falls and Foxy Loxy is killed.

How long will we let the acorns falling in Culpeper County pummel us- If the advocates of fine arts must be viewed by some of our own elected officials and others as The Henny Penny Coalition, so be it. We are all pilgrims on a journey toward a better Culpeper. A Culpeper that supports quality education for our children.

     My question is, who is Foxy Loxy here-
What outcome will we see in years to come- I don't think silenced or devoured parents are likely.