Kearny High School (Kearny, New Jersey)
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Kearny High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Kearny, New Jersey, as part of the Kearny School District.
Construction began on the present school facility began in 1921. Kearny High School opened for the fall semester in September 1923. The school's stadium was completed in 1925. In 1940, an addition costing $400,000 was added. In 1974, another addition was added that cost $5 million dollars, providing a new Music and Art Department, 3 gymnasiums, locker rooms, classrooms and parking.
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[edit] Athletics
The Kearny High School Kardinals compete in the Watchung Conference, which is comprised of eleven public high schools covering Essex County, Hudson County and Union County in North Jersey, operating under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).
[edit] Religion in classroom controversy
In the autumn of 2006, David Paszkiewicz, a history teacher at Kearny High with 14 years of experience at the school, generated heated controversy when it was revealed that the teacher preached Christian religious doctrine to his students during an American history class. When confronted by Kearny High School junior Matthew LaClair in a meeting with Paskiewicz and the administration, Paszkiewicz denied ever preaching Christianity in class. After this, LaClair produced recorded tapes in which Paszkiewicz was recorded saying that God :
“...did everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains for you, and he’s saying, ‘Please, accept me, believe.’ If you reject that, you belong in hell.” The teacher is said to have also taught that there were dinosaurs aboard Noah’s Ark and that there is no scientific basis for evolution or the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe.
The incident has received considerable coverage, with LaClair being interviewed on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° and in The New York Times.
This controversy has raised interesting questions over the legal right of students to record what teachers tell them during class. With some believing it is important in order to keep teacher's accountable, while others argue it infringes on the teacher's personal liberty.[1].
The student's supporters have further reported that "he has been the target of harassment and a death threat from fellow students and 'retaliation' by school officials who have treated him, not the teacher, as the problem. The retaliation, they say, includes the district’s policy banning students from recording what is said in class without a teacher’s permission and officials’ refusal to punish students who have harassed Matthew." [2]
Deborah Jacobs, New Jersey executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Kearny High School had “violated the spirit and the letter of freedom of religion and the First Amendment,” and that the A.C.L.U. would support the LaClairs if they were to file suit. The People for the American Way Foundation has expressed similar support.
[edit] Distinguished Alumni
- Bob Burton, Jr., Speedcuber
- John Harkes, soccer player
- Jeff Klepacki, Olympic rower
- Tony Meola, soccer goalkeeper for Red Bull New York
- Ray Toro, lead guitarist for My Chemical Romance
- Ed Halicki, baseball pitcher for San Francisco Giants
- Alex Webster, football head coach for New York Giants
- Brian Regal, PhD. Historian, author of Human Evolution: A Guide to the Debates and others.
