ODA adds mandatory Estonian folk dancing to their curriculum for incoming freshmen.
By Collin Dillingham
The Out-of-Door Academy announced the controversial decision last week to add Pillerkaar, a traditional Estonian folk dance, to the list of required coursework. When asked about the rationale behind the decision, Head of School Dr. Deb Otey commented, “As we move forward in our journey towards cultural acceptance, it is important for our kids to understand and embrace Eastern European traditions.”
Some parents are concerned that these required classes may take away from other educational areas, such as math, science, and English. According to new Estonian dance teacher Olga Kukk, those classes “don’t matter that much.” Through her translator, she passionately explained her life’s story.
Mrs. Kukk grew up in the small town of Mõisakula, Estonia. She lived there for the first 80 years of her life before she emigrated to the United States in 2008. She demonstrated a deep cultural understanding of not only Estonian folk dancing but also many other Estonian traditions, such as building bonfires and making verivorst, Estonia’s national sausage dish. She also insisted multiple times that she is not a Russian spy, even though she was never asked about that topic.
When we asked about her vision for her students, Mrs. Kukk passionately spoke for around 15 minutes in rapid-fire Estonian that her translator was barely able to keep up with. The gist of it seems to be a traditional night of chowing down on verivorst sausage while dancing around a massive bonfire. The exact specifics were not able to be determined, as before we could continue our interview Mrs. Kukk had to take her afternoon nap.
In an official statement made by the ODA College Counselling office, they said that “participation in these traditions will certainly help your kids get into colleges, at least the Estonian ones.” The sentiment was echoed by Estonian ambassador Andres Kask at a press conference last week. Mr. Kask is in charge of more than eight Estonian immersion programs nationwide. He claims that the primary goal of this program is to diversify the student population of several Estonian universities. He also repeatedly insisted that none of the teachers are Russian spies.
Amidst this confusing pivot, we looked to interview some students to get their opinion. Unfortunately, due to fear of backlash from the Estonians, the students have requested to remain anonymous and spoke to us very little. What we can say is that the students seem confused and concerned. Some of the students in Mrs. Kukk’s advisory had a chance to meet their new teacher. They described her as “passionate,” “energetic,” “borderline incomprehensible,” and “definitely a Russian spy.”
Regardless of how anyone feels about it, we have been told that these changes have already been approved and are therefore irreversible. Starting next school year, ninth graders will be expected to report to campus at sunrise for their first session with Mrs. Kukk. We wish them luck. They're going to need it.