Students Plead for Return of Popular Teacher
Students from Arundel High spoke before the school board in support of Andrew Cizek, a psychology and comparative government teacher who was reassigned last month.
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Arundel High School students and parents spoke before the Anne Arundel County School Board Wednesday and urged the return of a popular psychology and social studies teacher.
Wearing T-shirts with the phrase "#BringBackCizek," they spoke with great emotion in support of Andrew Cizek, who was reassigned within the school system last month and is the subject of an ongoing investigation. Dozens of Arundel High students and parents also sat in the crowd to show their support.
“You cannot possibly imagine the tears that have been shed over this matter,” junior Kate Langdon said. “We are here to express our brokenheartedness over the removal of a perfectly innocent man.”
A Patch reporter was not in attendance Wednesday, but watched a live television broadcast of the testimony.
School officials have declined to reveal any details about the nature of the investigation. But students and parents both said Cizek was removed from Arundel after the discovery of a tweet from a female student, in which she made reference to being his “girlfriend.”
A review of Cizek’s Twitter account showed that he frequently interacted with students through the popular social media network Twitter.
Students and parents have insisted that the tweets in question were made in jest, and that there has been no inappropriate behavior.
“I wholeheartedly believe that Mr. Cizek is a great teacher, and that this was just a poor lapse of judgment,” said Donna Stubler, a parent of a student of Cizek’s. “Hopefully this can be turned into a learning experience, providing teachers, administrators and all school personnel with much-needed training.”
The school board urged students and parents to avoid speaking about the specifics of the case. Thus, the testimony largely centered on students’ classroom experience.
Students stressed Cizek's enthusiasm and ability to connect with students through a sense of humor and shared love of popular culture. They also said he was willing to set aside extra time for students who were struggling in class or dealing with other challenges.
Testimony Wednesday included a written statement from Olivia Piasecki, an Arundel senior who has acknowledged interacting with Cizek on Twitter but urged for his return. Her statement was read by a friend, Taylor Bromante.
“Sometimes I got lost amidst the high school drama, the studying and the hardships of everyday life, but knowing that someone would pause his life to hear about mine made the difference in every possible way,” Piasecki’s statement said.
Some of the most gripping testimony came from Uyen Nguyen, the senior class president, who revealed to the board that she suffered from anorexia and bulimia and had attempted suicide.
Cizek, she said, had spoken to the school counselor on her behalf. She said that the day before he was removed from Arundel, he comforted her in the school hallway after she left a difficult meeting involving the counselor and her father.
“I will always remember the words he said to me that morning, because those words saved my life," she said. "I dare not speak for the experiences of other students, but know for myself that I really don’t need to lose someone else, especially someone like Mr. Cizek.”
Nguyen said she hoped Cizek would return to the school before the end of the year.
"I want him to see myself and other students graduate, because he needs to know that he helped this happen," she said.
Ronald Grossman
8:33 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
It's great that students are standing up for what they believe in BUT this teacher, no matter how great, violated the trust that the parents have put in him. HE IS NOT A PAID COUNSELOR, PROBALY HAS NO TRAINING, AND FEEDING CANDY TO BABYS DOESN'T MAKE HIM A GOOD TEACHER. Although I had a lot of sympathy for him in the beginning it concerns me that he, probably upon the advice of his attorney(s), has not fully apologized for crossing the line. A truly 'great' teacher would acknowledge his students while admitting he crossed the line. The more this drags on the more I am prone to wanting to see him do jail time.
Marc Riley
9:17 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
Um, apparently you need to reread the first paragraph...and really, your comments are a bit ridiculous. Get more people like you on a school board and all the good teachers will be GONE, replaced swiftly by robots. You need a serious reality check. The teachers I remember the most from HS were the ones who WERE human, and would talk to the students as friends and mentors. I'm not sure what you think the difference is between a teacher interacting face to face with a student, and on twitter/facebook. It's the world we live in. Unless you know the details, you really should keep your witch burning opinions to yourself.
Marc Riley
9:18 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
ONE MORE THING, guilty people apologize. This man did nothing wrong.
Andrea
12:42 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
He is not a counselor, but he had a compassion for his students. When my daughter did not get into a much-desired college, he was the teacher she turned to. No training you say? He certainly made her feel better after devastating news. That means so much to me, as a parent. He cared, he knew what to say and could relate to these teenagers. That's something you don't see nowadays, as you should. And, he is a GREAT teacher. My daughter had no interest in the news. He sparked an interest in world affairs for her. Do you know how hard it is to that for a teenager? Instead of mindless TV, she was watching world news and also attended the Johns Hopkins Model United Nations conference. If you had attended the meeting and saw what he meant for these kids, I am sure your views would change.
Andrea
10:44 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
Good comments Mark, I totally agree.
Carol B
11:04 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
Mr. Grossman, we've had this discussion on a different thread. I've been a teacher for decades, and considered a good one. Although my nominal subject is English Literature and Composition, I teach argument and analysis, ethics, justice, law, science, and a variety of other subjects (even geometry!) in the course of covering the subjects that arise . . . and I have counseled students who were having difficulty with their parents, students who were having difficulty in other classes, students who had problems at work or with their children, and so on, throughout my career. One does not need special "credentials" to care, or--as a caring adult--to try to help someone who is troubled. Mr. Cizek did not attempt to treat a learning disability, neurosis, or psychosis (none of which he would be qualified to do); he offered encouragement, support, and guidance, which are well within his credentials. Marc, we cannot say that Mr. Cizek "did nothing wrong" because until the investigation is complete and the results made public, we don't know that for a fact (no matter what we may think or believe). We do know that he made an error in judgment, not discouraging Olivia's inappropriate "tweets." That was not morally or legally wrong; it just wasn't very smart. He owes no one an apology for an error in judgment, for the consequences of which he has (already) suffered more than anyone else.
Marc Riley
12:35 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
I guess I should have said, "he did nothing morally or legally wrong..." since that's pretty much what I meant. :) Carol, I was reading your comments on the other thread after I wrote mine. You were much more professional and articulate than I was while writing my comment to RG early this morning. I pretty much should have just said, "What Carol said in the other thread."
Vincent Michalski
12:04 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
Mr Grossman clearly you are an idiot! Have you ever been around any teenagers before? Mr. C is a great teacher that did NOT cross any lines! Did you even read the article? I
Carol B
1:01 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
Thanks, Mark--and Vincent, that kind of outburst is just as inappropriate as the "tweet" that caused this issue. People are not "idiots" because they disagree with what you think (political mudslinging notwithstanding). Mr. Grossman is expressing his opinion--born out of a valid concern for the welfare of the students, and a fear that there may be more to this incident than any of the "outsiders looking in" may know. You have no more evidence that Mr. Cizek *didn't* cross any lines than Mr. Grossman has that he *did*. The article does not say that the investigation is complete, and there is no evidence that Mr. Cizek did anything wrong; it says all we know is that the matter was precipitated by Olivia's "tweet." Let's give everyone the benefit of the doubt here: Mr. Cizek, who is innocent until proven otherwise, and the school and the school board, who have a legal duty to investigate such issues, when they are raised, to protect the welfare of *all* of the students. Too unfortunately for our society, cases in which teachers and other authority figures *have* abused their power are in the headlines almost every day. Just like suicide threats and posts on Facebook threatening to kill or harm someone, they have to be taken seriously--because failure to investigate can cost people their lives. Mr. Cizek hasn't been dismissed; he's just been removed from the environment, until the school can determine whether Olivia's "tweets" were innocent fun, or something more serious.
Tim Lemke
2:29 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
Vincent - let's try to refrain from name-calling. Thanks.
And I would caution everyone to avoid speculating and making assumptions about the situation.
Monica DiCamillo
8:22 am on Sunday, March 25, 2012
Modern technology, while I love it, has turned out to be a double-edged sword. This incident involving Mr. Cizek proves my statement.
Jo Puschek
11:33 pm on Thursday, April 12, 2012
Howlong has Mr. Cizek been teaching?
Marc Riley
7:13 am on Friday, April 13, 2012
Innocent til proven guilty. Everyone in this comment thread should take a long look at themselves and think long and hard about some of their comments. I can only imagine the things you say about some of the other major issues going on in this world right now. I repeat, Innocent until proven guilty. It's a concept that is LOST in our society these days. Shame on you.
Monica DiCamillo
8:07 am on Friday, April 13, 2012
Well said Marc.