My 17 year old daughters ‘science’ teacher sent this out. Ashley is no longer in this indoctrinator’s classroom. He should be fired. Fucking cocksucker.
Hello Parents,
I apologize for not being able to be at Open House tonight. I have a Covid infection, more
on that at the end of this email including my opinions on vaccination and where I think it fits in
with the Coronavirus Pandemic. This will be my overdue welcome letter.
About Mr. Roth
I am in my 16
th
year of teaching and was lucky enough to land a job at my alma mater,
Dimond, where I have been my entire career. College for me was spent studying Biology at
Colorado College in Colorado Springs and University of Alaska Southeast Sitka for my Masters in
Teaching. In Sitka I did my student teaching at Mt. Edgecumbe High School a true Alaskan
treasure. I have two young boys ages 7 and 4, one of which attends Kincaid. My wife Brittany
works for the ADF&G. As a family we enjoy the outdoors- skiing, fishing, hunting etc
About Biology
This class provides a foundation in Biology. We start with Ecology but quickly move into
microscopic work in cellular biology, genetics, bacteria and viruses. We spend some time on
evolution and taxonomy. The two most important things for parents (and students) to know is
that all weekly work is due on Thursday by the end of the day (can be turned in at home) and
that everything will be turned in on Canvas even if we are doing labs in class. On my Canvas
homepage there is a weekly calendar with a “Must do” and a “May do” column. Everything in
the “Must do” column is graded. See the screenshot at the bottom of this letter.
About My Covid Infection and Vaccination
My infection is a so called “breakthrough” infection. Of course I am vaccinated, I ran out
the door to get my shots when my turn in line came up! I credit my vaccination for keeping my
infection mild. Thank You Vaccine!
The vaccines are incredibly safe, safer than aspirin- Over 180 million mRNA vaccines have
been given in the USA and there have been zero deaths.
I talk to students about pseudoscience, anti-vax lies and critical thinking. I feel for them,
for our society really. Some people don’t have a trusted doctor they can turn to for honest
facts and the internet is full of bad information that can seem real. Separating the truth from
the noise takes time, work and confidence. I simplify it by saying that vaccine hesitant folks
should find a doctor to get their questions answered and of course I won’t tolerate anti-vax lies
in a science class. It is obvious that some of the students have heard some of the crazy stuff!
The whole situation has been a science literacy test to be honest but the stakes are real.
A few more personal details if you are curious- so far I have a temp of 101 and a
headache which means the T-cell and B-cell response is working. It is well known now that
neutralizing antibodies fade with time after the second shot of my vaccine (Pfizer) so despite
wearing high quality n95 masks and having a HEPA filter I’m not too surprised I got infected. I
would not want to get infected without having been vax’d since this virus is of a type our bodies
have never encountered before and our immune system is “naive” to it. I know many of you
have experienced the virus and lost friends or loved ones- I also have lost an unvaccinatefriend so I can empathize.
). We are going to have to ask about his final two schools policies regarding vaccination on our visits. My son knows that we are vehemently against it and I think he understands why. But he also wants to play. So it’s very difficult. I’m trying to provide him with information such as what is in this particular study.
