This is an archived copy of an opinion piece from schools reporter Jeff Gaunt that appeared in the McHenry, IL-area Daily Herald.

- John

By Jeff Gaunt
Posted Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Maybe I would have felt differently if I were still in high school.

But I have to say, I was not impressed by the Power Team performance at an all-school assembly last week at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville.

The Power Team is the group of bodybuilding ministers who travel the country breaking bricks and promoting Christianity.

Of course, the group isn’t allowed to talk about religion in schools.

So at Dundee-Crown, they instead discussed drugs, violence, suicide and the like.

I expected the presentation would be entertaining, if nothing else.

After all, the group’s Web site has videos of these folks breaking flaming bricks and running through blocks of ice.

Turns out, you have to hear about the Bible if you want to see the good stuff.

Sure, they broke some bricks, snapped a baseball bat and smashed soda cans in their hands.

But those feats were few and far between.

The rest of the presentation was split between an advertising campaign for their church performances, and some cliches about how there’s a seed of greatness in everyone.

The most moving part of the whole show was when one Power Team member described her past: her gambling father, her mother who died when she was 18, her foray into drug dealing.

Apparently some random woman at a Laundromat told her to snap out of it — and she did. End of story.

The woman then broke a stack of bricks with her elbow, all the while talking about breaking down the walls in your life.

The story was pretty good. The rest was not.

And overall, I didn’t find their performance inspiring — maybe because they are trained as ministers, not motivational speakers.

Which brings me to the real question.

Why would district administrators bring in a mediocre act that walks a fine line bordering on promoting religion in schools?

Their intentions were good, I’m sure.

But if it were up to me, I wouldn’t have a group like that in my school.

On a lighter note: Congratulations to Dundee-Crown High School Spanish teacher Kim Gavigan, who this month received a regional educator-of-the year award.

Gavigan was named the year’s best high school teacher in Kane County, during the annual Educator of the Year awards ceremony.

The event honors the top elementary, middle and high school teachers, as well as the best administrators, support staff and special educators, such as nurses and social workers.

“I work with a tremendous group at Dundee-Crown,” Gavigan, a 27-year veteran in District 300, said in a prepared statement.

“I have a fabulous department. The broader community at Dundee-Crown is just tremendous, and I really can’t thank them enough.”