Latest news with #FellowshipofChristianAthletes
Indianapolis Star
5 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
'A lot of beer': Trash cleanup crews descend on IMS after Indianapolis 500
The gravel below the grandstands of turn 4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Memorial Day morning showed the aftermath of the more than 300,000 people that attended the Greatest Spectacle in Racing the day before. Hot dog buns and half-eaten fried chicken pieces were scattered between crinkled bags of chips, candy wrappers and paper plates. Empty cans that fell from the bleachers to the rocks indicated the beer preferences of Indianapolis 500 race fans, including Bud Light, Busch Light and Miller Lite to name a few. But in the H and J stands of turn 4, members of Frankton High School's Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Anderson University football team spent the morning cleaning up the remnants of race day, starting in the bleachers and working their way to the gravel below. 'A lot of beer,' Frankton High School junior Hadely Walls said of what she saw at IMS. 'It's crazy to see how many people don't throw away their trash.' The Memorial Day cleanup, which happens every year after the Indy 500, is a fundraising opportunity for the Frankton and Anderson groups. With every chicken bone and beer can picked up from their portion of the massive track, they earn money to support their organizations, advisers said. Jonathan Coddington, the head football coach for Anderson, said his team has tackled similar cleanups before, including after Indianapolis Colts games and big concerts. The groups took on the cleanup challenge with the help of Jim Hostettler, who said he has assisted post-race trash pickups since 1998. Hostettler said IMS can pay about $4,000 for the cleanup of stands H and J, but he enjoys seeing different groups, especially younger kids, get out and work. 'It's good to let the kids know they're doing it for the environment,' he said. Kaydence Banda, a freshman at Frankton, said she saw the packed grandstands on TV during the race on May 25 and was struck by how quiet IMS was just a day later, as she stood in the same bleachers and carried down trash bags of garbage from race day. Memorial Day was Banda's first time helping clean up after the Indy 500. 'It's crazy big,' Banda said of IMS. 'I don't think I really knew what to expect.' While fundraising was one perk of cleaning up after the Indy 500, the morning at IMS was also a chance to connect with other Frankton FCA members, Walls said. The group began just after 6 a.m. on May 26, riding in white "Frankton Eagles" buses to Indianapolis. "It's a great time to bond," she said. After tackling the bleachers, Hostettler directed the Frankton students and Anderson football players on how to clear the trash under the grandstands. Cans would go in one container and trash in another, he told the groups. They got to work immediately with rakes, recycle boxes and buckets with "Keep Indy Clean" printed in bold letters on the side and the clink of the cans hitting the containers a sign of their progress toward a cleaner section of the track.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bible-infused lessons in Texas schools ignore the law and hurt students like me
Starting this fall, a Bible-influenced curriculum approved by the State Board of Education last November will be allowed in Texas public elementary schools. The lessons could reach as many as 7,000 schools and 2 million K-5 students. As a second-generation Hindu teenager in Texas public schools, I find this curriculum worrying. Minority students can feel socially ostracized. Adding lessons that emphasize one religious tradition will increase social alienation for those who don't identify with that faith. Secular education, which has contributed to maintaining peace in classrooms, is being threatened. Young students rarely understand religious differences between themselves and their peers, in my experience. When a particular tradition — whether a place of worship or dietary restriction — is presented as "correct" or "better," those outside that tradition feel demeaned. Public elementary schools should not teach about the Bible. Period. The First Amendment mandates the separation of church and state, and the Fourteenth Amendment requires individual states to comply with all other Amendments. The Bible is a religious text. Public schools are state funded. Texas should not be endorsing religious material in elementary schools. Schools are not religion-free, but teachers must remain impartial during instructional periods. Student-led activities during free periods, like my school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes club, are protected. A Bible-infused school curriculum, however, sanctions religious expression in class by teachers and the school. In the case of Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a Pennsylvania school district's mandatory Bible readings were unconstitutional, even though individual students were allowed to opt out in rare cases. Even if a Texas school's decision to use the Bible-infused curriculum is optional, the U.S. Supreme Court has already thwarted an attempt at religious instruction in public schools. Furthermore, the judicial system is 100% backed up by the Constitution. Proponents argue that Christianity is a major part of U.S. history and will enrich humanities lessons. But 26% of Texans are religiously unaffiliated, while 6% practice non-Christian religions. A Bible-influenced curriculum disregards a third of the state population. The curriculum inserts Biblical stories into previously secular subjects. English is a required subject for K-5 public schools. In the subject textbook, the new curriculum includes scientific lessons alongside a unit called 'Serving Our Neighbors,' which emphasizes Jewish and Christian scriptures. By placing a religious chapter next to nonspiritual lessons, the textbook presents a certain religious tradition as the default, alienating students from other faiths. I recall arguing with classmates in third grade about God, reflecting our various faiths. We disagreed on God's abilities, whether he could walk on hot surfaces or fly, among other superpowers. As young children, we struggled to understand each other, and our teacher had to intervene. Infusing education with a majority religion worsens divisions for minorities. Although Christianity influences U.S. culture, religious pluralism is an important part of America's constitutional fabric. Public education should reflect those values rather than religious superiority. Though adoption of this new curriculum is optional for schools, they will receive additional funding if they do so. A 2024 Kinder Institute study found that 73% of Texas school districts are underfunded, and the most financially strained districts are more likely to have student achievement ratings of C or lower. State funds being reserved to reward religious education should instead be used to increase teacher salaries and improve educational opportunities. It is frustrating that underfunded schools are pressured to adopt a Bible-infused curriculum. Students like myself have attended primary schools for years to develop basic skills and identities. Controversial topics being taught, or worse, strangled in a biased environment, undermine our educational fabric. They threaten the future of my fellow students and minorities. All students deserve to feel valued in their classrooms, not subjected to alienation or divisions along religious and cultural lines. Rajasi Agarwal is a ninth grader at Westlake High School. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Teaching the Bible in Texas schools hurts students like me | Opinion
