Is Mrs. Heckert any better than Dr. Benz? Students know what happened but the teacher is back in the classroom.

Anonymous wrote:Churchill's Blast is a living legacy to to a convicted child molestor. Shame on Dr. Benz.

The replacement for Misenheimer was Barillo. A long term sub. He wasn't even a teacher. Benz didn't take student safety seriously.

Mr Meisenheimer got what he deserved as far as a judicial punishment, but Churchill really blew it letting his legacy live on.

Anonymous wrote:Blast is an amazing show and the kids work sooooooo hard. Stop trying to trash it by bringing up some teacher from 20 years ago before the current set of his school students were even born.

After Misenheimer Blast was a farce. Barillo and a woman sung into open mics during the show to fake the performances of the students. A name change is in order.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard to believe that Churchill (aka Dr. Benz) allowed James Misenheimers production of BLAST to continue for another 20 years. The had only been doing it for 10 years when he was arrested for having sex with 10th graders. She should have ended it right then and there.

The just had the 30th anniversary of BLAST, no reason they could not have changed the name of the show that he created.

Everyone in the school knew that this 30 year old was trying to fool around with all the girls.

He was 35.

Benz's response to his conviction was to prohibit couches from being kept in offices.

Anonymous wrote:I went to Churchill in the 90's and graduated before Mr. Mesinhemer was arrested, but everyone knew what was going on. I don't think he could have gotten away with that today.

Read this thread and others about Churchill. Go to the MCPS Child Abuse webpage to read the community messages of employees arrested. There are still child predators in MCPS schools.

Churchill's Blast is a living legacy to to a convicted child molestor. Shame on Dr. Benz.

I just googled an article in the Gazette that basically his defense was something like he had made Blast his life and divorced his wife because he was so devoted to Blast. He even slept in his office and because of his obsession with Blast the lines got blurred so he wasn't really a pedophile. It was a weird defense but I can see the point why Dr. Benz should have changed the name of the production to cut all ties with him.

I went to Churchill in the 90's and graduated before Mr. Mesinhemer was arrested, but everyone knew what was going on. I don't think he could have gotten away with that today.

Anonymous wrote:Blast is an amazing show and the kids work sooooooo hard. Stop trying to trash it by bringing up some teacher from 20 years ago before the current set of his school students were even born.

I have a daughter who has participated in Blast. The PPs just want a name change to separate the program from it's tainted past.

There are many problems Dr. Benz was either ill equipped to deal with or she just didn't care. A name change out of respect for the multiple victims Dr. Benz failed to protect is the least Mrs. Heckert could do.

Blast is an amazing show and the kids work sooooooo hard. Stop trying to trash it by bringing up some teacher from 20 years ago before the current set of his school students were even born.

I know longer have a kid at the school, but maybe someone who does should let Ms. Heckert know about the history behind Blast.

They need to call the 30 year Anniversary of Blast the final show. Mr. Misenheimer will always be associated with the show as the founder and director for the first 10 years. Sure the kids love the show, but they need to give it a new name. Churchill needs to have some respect for the many girls that were the victims of this sexual predator.

Read these comment about Mr. Misenheimer and my first thought why did someone bring up something that happened 20 years ago, but then I googled his name and found old articles on the Washington Post and the Gazette with quotes from Joan Benz.

She was given a mountain of evidence -- a girl accusing him of a sexual relationship, print outs from parents of chat room discussions, print outs from parents of AOL instant messenger scripts, items from his school office (pullout couch, candles, condoms) and she the newspaper published this:

Churchill Principal Joan C. Benz sent a letter home notifying parents of the arrest. The letter read, in part: "The allegations made public today are obviously troubling to all of us. I believe it is important to remember that these are allegations only at this time."

WOW just WOW, goes to the culture of that principal to just cover stuff up.

Every time I hear someone mention Blast from the Past at Churchill, Misenheimer comes to mind.