MOUNT VERNON — On Tuesday, the contract termination hearing for suspended Mount Vernon Middle School science teacher John Freshwater resumed after a three-week hiatus. The Mount Vernon school board is considering firing Freshwater as a result of allegations of unprofessional conduct.
Zach Dennis was the first witness called by the board’s attorney, David Millstone. Now a freshman, Dennis was a student in Freshwater’s science class last school year, and was apparently injured by a piece of science equipment used in class by Freshwater. Dennis first identified Tesla coil devices that are similar to those used in the science class, then described how the devices were used. He said one use was to light up gases in a tube so that students could identify the type of gas by the color it emitted.
“What else?” asked Millstone.
“Mr. Freshwater asked [another student] to pick up a tube,” Dennis replied. “When he bent over he [Freshwater] shot him in the back.”
Dennis said the student was unpleasantly surprised and upset.
Dennis said Freshwater asked for volunteers to experience what the discharge from the Tesla coil felt like, and “marked a few students.” He said several students then formed a line, holding hands, and Freshwater “shocked” the first person in line to see how far down the line the electrical charge would travel.
Dennis replied “Yes” when Millstone asked whether Dennis had been marked.
Dennis further testified that Freshwater had marked his arm in the shape of a cross, and demonstrated — with the power off — how the marking was done. He indicated Freshwater held his arm down, and went up and down the arm twice and across it twice.
When asked how that felt, Dennis said, “Kind of burning. Like static electricity, but more intense.”
He testified that Freshwater told him it was a temporary tattoo and the cross would be there for a while. Describing the mark, Dennis said it was composed of red blotches and little dots, and looked like a cross to him. Millstone asked, “If you had it to do over again, would you volunteer?” Dennis said, “No.”
Millstone then asked Dennis about whether Freshwater taught religion in the classroom. Dennis said yes, and referred to a video regarding the creation of earth, related to a watchmaker making a watch. Millstone then played the video.
In further testimony, Dennis said Freshwater talked about a higher being in class, about Good Friday and Easter, and made direct references to the Bible. He also said Freshwater gave the students an extra-credit assignment to watch the movie “Expelled,” and write a paragraph about it. According to Dennis, Freshwater routinely had the students use a special phrase, “here” when something was used in the textbook but wasn’t a proven fact.
Because Dennis was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he also testified about Freshwater’s role as an FCA monitor. He said Freshwater picked certain movies and showed them at FCA leadership meetings, and, in fact, ran the leadership meetings. Dennis said Freshwater also, in science class, showed a video of his visit to an orphanage in Romania, shared pictures of him as a fire jumper and displayed a scrapbook of Freshwater’s missionary trip to China.
“Do you have any bias against Mr. Freshwater?” asked Millstone.
“No,” said Dennis.
“Do you dislike Mr. Freshwater?”
“No.”
“Do yo think Mr. Freshwater dislikes you?”
“No.”
Freshwater’s attorney, Kelly Hamilton, declined to cross examine Dennis Tuesday morning, but reserved the right to recall him later.
Millstone then called Zach’s mother, Jenifer Dennis, to the stand. She described the events of the afternoon in December when Zach came home with the mark on his arm, and identified the photos she had taken of the injury. She said she had a meeting with superintendent Steve Short about the injury, and repeated that “we didn’t want [Freshwater] to get fired over this.”
Hamilton reserved the right to cross examine Jenifer Dennis at a later date.
Freshwater was the final witness of the day. In a review of public statements made by Freshwater, Millstone showed a YouTube video of Freshwater addressing the school board, and Freshwater’s interview with Larry Elder on Fox News.
Millstone asked Freshwater to confirm that he never taught intelligent design or creationism in the classroom, and never branded or marked a student. Freshwater said that was correct.
When asked to identify the Tesla coil used in the experiment that marked Zach Dennis, Freshwater said the one in Millstone’s possession was similar to the one used in the classroom. Freshwater said he has the actual Tesla coil used, and admitted he was not authorized to remove it from the school. Freshwater then described how the device is used, and said he was aware the Tesla coil can cause subcutaneous burns if held against the body for a “long duration.”
In response to further questions from Millstone, Freshwater said the other student referred to by Zach Dennis was inadvertently “zapped,” and said he always demonstrated the device on himself before using it on students. Initially saying he left no mark on Zach Dennis’ arm, Freshwater later said he did put an X on Zach.
“From Zach’s testimony today,” Millstone asked,” did you understand that it hurt?”
“Yes,” responded Freshwater.
“Is there any reason that Zach would not be truthful about what happened.”
“No.”
Is there any reason Zach would be biased toward you?”
“No.”
Subsequent testimony revolved around Freshwater’s role as the monitor of FCA at the middle school. He said he could not remember specifics about FCA rules or the FCA handbook. Freshwater said he did talk to potential speakers for FCA meetings, but said he was not the person who made the initial contact. He said many of the initial contacts were made by his daughter, Jordan, although he did give a list of potential speaker’s phone numbers to Zach Dennis and told him whom to call. Contradicting Zach’s testimony, Freshwater said he did not recall ever initiating prayer in FCA meeting, but later said, “I pray all the time.”
Afternoon testimony largely related to religious displays in the classroom. Freshwater said he had at least four copies of the Ten Commandments on display, along with positive characteristics posters with Bible verses on them and old Cross Club posters. He also kept a personal copy of the Bible on his desk, and, after being directed to remove all religious items from the classroom and to keep the Bible in his desk during class times, brought two additional items into the classroom: An Oxford Bible and a book, “Jesus of Nazareth.” He said he did remove most of the posters but refused to take the Bible off his desk.
“That’s my inspiration,” he said.
Millstone had Freshwater review a series of handouts and supplemental source material used in the classroom. Freshwater said that, to the best of his recollection, all were related to the science course of study and did not reflect creationism or intelligent design. Some may have been developed to “examine” evolution, like the Answers in Genesis Web site, Freshwater said, and were not necessarily supportive of the theory of evolution. Related to that, Freshwater testified that he was aware of complaints from the high school science department about the way he taught evolution.
The hearing adjourned for the day when Millstone finished his questioning of Freshwater.
