Second in a series
Re “Silver’s Farewell (?) Tour: An Outpouring at City Hall”
So much of the turvy-topsy events in Sheila Silver’s flipped-upside-down life this month are occurring for the first time.
Sort of the reverse emotion of waking up bleary-eyed and married on the morning-after when no such ceremony ever registered on your memory board.
Fired a few days ago as the most successful drama coach/teacher in the modern history of Culver City High School, Ms. Silver still is dazed by what has transpired.
A night or two later, she became a cause celebre as word leaked. Known and unknown supporters banded together, and presently they are trying to win back her status at the high school.
“I never have been fired before,” she says.
A single mom of two sons, Joshua and Adam, who graduated college not long before she came to Culver City, Ms. Silver previously was a poster girl for the stable, predictable life until thunder struck.
Hired two years ago as the Creative Director of the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, AVPA, and classroom teacher, she had lived and worked in Orange County since the age of 4 — actually, records show she did scant work as a 4-year-old.
She spent the bulk of her career in the Saddleback Valley district, 23 years in Mission Viejo. For the next eight years, she worked for the state, circulating among underperforming schools. Then came the earthquake.
One of the most unexpected February developments has been the candor over events, in a wide-eyed manner with a sensitive accent on respect.
Did Ms. Silver foresee her dismissal?
“Starting in November, I could tell the protocols were starting to build a case about me. From that point, I was pretty much under the microscope.
“Probably, personality was involved, too.
“I have been told that I am not a good collaborator, I don’t follow procedures and I am not a good communicator. For those reasons, people (faculty members) don’t want to work with me.”
Ms. Silver laughs easily, and to lift the gloom of a heavy moment, she looked up at her visitor. “This is me,” she said. “You get what you see. This is me.
“Am I an advocate for students, and does that make people uncomfortable? Sometimes.
“Am I honest? Yes.
“The outpouring of support has been very humbling. I have been here such a short time.”
What of the report you were told that after winning the two ultimate drama titles with your students both years with the AVPA, you were not sufficiently modest?
“At a meeting, I was told this had nothing to do with my teaching, that I am an amazing teacher. But probably if I had had a different personality, I would have known to come in and tread the waters lightly for a couple of years before I came in and did what I have done.”
Too successful too fast?
(To be continued)
