Teacher Shows That Kids Can Have Fun and Learn Compassion for Others at the Same Time
For Immediate Release:
May 5, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Boulder, Colo. — For putting on a circus that will include 26 performing students, but no confused and frightened animals, Boulder's Shining Mountain Waldorf School will receive a Compassionate School Award from PETA.
The circus—which will showcase the kids' talents as they ride unicycles, balance on giant globes, dance on stilts, juggle, spin poi, twirl hoops, and perform acrobatics and gymnastics—is the brainchild of teacher Ralph Doane. A vegetarian and environmentalist, Doane believes in the importance of fostering respect and appreciation for animals and nature in his students and teaching them self-reliance. The all-human circus, which will feature performers from the fifth and sixth grades, will take place at the school at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 7, before an estimated audience of 350. The only "animals" in the circus will be the kids, who will represent a different species for each act.
"Mr. Doane and the Waldorf School are teaching an invaluable lesson in compassion not only to students but also to everyone who watches their performance," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman, who is also the mother of a 6-year-old. "If kids knew how elephants are beaten and tigers are whipped, parents would have to drag them kicking and screaming to any circus that uses animals."
Circus trainers force elephants, tigers, bears, and other animals to perform tricks by using whips, electric prods, and bullhooks (devices resembling fireplace pokers with sharp steel hooks at the end). When they're not in the spotlight, the animals are kept chained or locked away in cages, deprived of everything that's natural and important to them.
The school will receive a framed certificate and a letter of appreciation from PETA. For more information, please visit PETA.org.