Students for Steinbarger

Recently, a Sidney High School teacher, Mr. Steinbarger was informed that he would be removed as the Advanced Placement chemistry teacher. So far, no reason has been given for this action. Mr. Steinbarger has always been an outstanding Chemistry and AP Chemistry teacher. He presents one of the hardest subjects in Sidney High School's curriculum to students in an understandable manner. He is one of the most dedicated teachers in Sidney, and he goes above and beyond the call of duty by going out of his way to teach struggling students beyond school hours, sacrificing his own time in order that students can better understand his subject. This project involves asking for support from the community to help Mr. Steinbarger get his Advanced Placement Chemistry Teaching status back. We have asked parents, students and other concerned citizens to sign a petition in support of Mr. Steinbarger. Parents and students have gone to administration and all they can stay is that Mr. Steinbarger is a great person and they will not tell anybody their reasoning behind these actions. Many parents have spoken to school employees who are very saddened by this as all that have been spoken to about this matter say they think this is very unfair. However, these faculty state they cannot speak up about the situation for fear that they will be reprimanded. Students and parents have gone to the school board to present their viewpoints. One school board member has resigned as he also thinks this action was unfair against Mr. Steinbarger, but the other school board members did not want to rock the boat of what some of the administration wanted. There have been a few hundred students signing this petition in support of Mr. Steinbarger. So far, I have spearheaded the project by organizing the petition, organizing the individuals for the school board meetings and I have created a website, "Students For Steinbarger". At this point, we will need money to take any further action. We know Mr. Steinbarger has done nothing wrong. He has not been suspended and the principal admitted Mr. Steinbarger is the best person he has ever known. The only reason given so far is that he is too popular among the students. He is popular because he spends his extra time helping students when they don't understand something. He will spend hours after school to make sure a student gets the information that he teaches in his class. Basically it sounds like this is what he is being punished for. So, far Mr. Steinbarger has been demoted to the Basic Science Teacher and in the meantime, a brand new teacher who has no teaching experience is teaching the advanced placement chemistry classes this year. Our goal is to convince administration how vital of a teacher Mr. Steinbarger is and to bring him back to the position that he excels in.