Ojai Valley: Less 'Happy', But More Aware
Citing concerns that happiness connotes childhood frivolity, hippy-hood, or troubled teens, the 61-year-old Happy Valley School changed its name to Besant Hill School with the help of student, parent, and faculty feedback which sought to honor founder Annie Besant and move away from recruiting stigmas associated with the "Happy" reference. Head of School Paul Amadio encourages us to pursue happiness, but not actually use the word. These folks are quick: the former hvalley.org now redirects to the new besanthill.org.
Meanwhile, Food For Thought Ojai - our schools' healthy food program - gears up for its Battle of the Bands on August 4 and 5, where the winners will open for Locally Grown 2, the program's main fund- and awareness-raising event. This year local favorites and legends Perla Batalla and Brett Dennen will grace the Libbey Bowl stage, and it'll only cost you $100 to see it up close (and party with 'em afterward).
More after the jump.
In other school news, the budget struggles of the the Ojai Unified School District prompted approval of an $111,000 snack bar trailer at Nordhoff Stadium, which will serve the foods banned from the school's cafeteria by the wellness policy. The decision is an admitted contradiction with the policy in general, and especially with the same-night move to add some new items to the nutritional menu. Still no solar panels though.
On the way up: Sanitary District rates, due to “fiscal requirements for operating and maintaining the systems in compliance with the increasingly rigorous environmental regulatory requirements for treating the water discharged into the Ventura River.” We love our Valley, our water, and our planet...for $50.31-a-month (in Ojai City).
According to BreathingEarth.net, in the time it's taken me to write this Journal, worldwide:
14,000 people have been born,
6,100 people have died, and
256,1000 tonnes of CO2 have been emitted.
Not a very sustainable model, thinks i. (Thanks to Heather for the resource!)
Dear neighbors: be happy, be aware, eat well, and tread lightly. In the words of Lesley Littlefield in the song "Oranginess": Blessings for the derrière, for villagers, and windy air.
(courtesy of Radio Ojai)
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Comments (8)
More info on Battle of the Bands (deadline for entry 7/20) is here:
http://www.ojaipost.com/2007/06/food_for_thought_brings_locall.shtml
Comment #1 Posted by: Lisa Snider | July 11, 2007 07:55 AM
I had no idea about HVS > BHS. Really interesting story. I would hope the kids are still happy :) By the way, shout out to Chris Wilson, Ojai Post author who lives and works up there. Maybe he can fill us in on some details of the transition - that would be a good story of interest.
Comment #2 Posted by: Tyler | July 11, 2007 09:23 AM
Speaking of less happy/more aware, I follow the
chain issue because of it's symbolism. The city
council is skilled at deflecting criticism, bait and
switch, straw-man tactics etc., which pave
the way for their growth blueprint. Politoville
being the classic example, I saw plannng deny his
specs countless times, yet look at the size
of final project- am really at a loss that so many
smart and earnest citizens can be chumped by this
development group of whoever- Polito, Perrot, Lance
Spiegel (?) Can any one interest be identified, or
is it a process being fought. This seems a losing
battle of attrition and I've greatest admiration and
respect for dissenters involved, but perhaps a defined
strategy of who and what exactly the villian is.
I'm still stoked on methology demonstrated on "Two Square Miles" about successful grassroots victory.
Sincerely, Pete L
Comment #3 Posted by: Anonymous | July 11, 2007 10:45 AM
I've been using some of the very little time I dedicate to TV to watch "Shaq's Big Challenge." Shaquille O'Neil is using his considerable celebrity to motivate 6 teens to lose weight and get fit, and to shame/encourage local school systems to reconsider their fitness and nutrition programs.
He reels through lots of statistics - 6% of the nations schools have mandatory physical fitness, some huge percentage of children are morbidly obese, etc. And here in Ojai, we're finding ways to sneak more fat and sugar and garbage into our high school students mouths. Aren't we smarter than that?
Comment #4 Posted by: heather | July 11, 2007 03:12 PM
How far can our sloganizing, image idolizing, profit seeking culture sink? The pursuit of life, liberty and HAPPINESS is no longer politically correct. Embarrassed by happiness? Afraid to think? Well, you can always load up on fat at Nordhoff's concession stand, and support the animal killing and torturing agribusiness while preparing your body for the disease industry (the so called health industry is another sick joke). During the time it's taken me to write this, I've died and been born several thousand times in those other selves. Thanks, Evan.
Comment #5 Posted by: Dennis Leary | July 12, 2007 01:32 PM
As a former teacher at Happy Valley School whose kids also attended I know how difficult it was for high school kids to explain to their peers that they went to "Happy Valley School." Let's face it. It sounded more like a pre-school than a high school. The students have asked for a name change for years. They deserve it. It's not about banning happiness or bowing to political correctness. The school by any other name is still a school (with an excellent arts education and a fine residential program, I might add).
Comment #6 Posted by: Lanny | July 12, 2007 09:13 PM
True, a thing by any name is still what it is; but that's a half truth because by investing in a name we contribute to its reality. The name Besant Hill School is bland, safe and culturally correct which creates that kind of reality. As for me, life is not a school, but if it were I would attend the School of Happiness.
Comment #7 Posted by: Dennis Leary | July 13, 2007 10:02 AM
As a former student of Happy Valley School, I always liked the connotation. I don't think preschool. I think of a place that fosters creativity and thinking for oneself, which HVS did for me. Happy Valley sounds to me like artists, like hippies on a hill, smelling the flowers, playing guitars, thinking allowed. Which it was. Aldous Huxley, Krishnamurti, and Annie Besant herself... if the name was good enough for them, it remains good enough for me.
"Besant Hill School" sounds elitist, preppie, conformist ... but hey, my parents only sent me to Happy Valley School because they thought it was a troubled teen, heavy-on-the-discipline program. If the name change lets the front office keep convincing the right wing nut job parents to foot the bill while opening up their kids' minds, more power to them.
Comment #8 Posted by: Anonymous | July 17, 2007 10:45 PM