With trembling knees a lone sixth-grader stood up for her former music teacher during the Grove City Area School Board meeting Monday night.

"Hello. My name is Amber Horner, and I'm here on behalf of Mr. Dan Konnen. He is my band teacher, my flute teacher, and my music teacher," the 12-year old Hillview Intermediate Center student said. "I'm going to try to convince you to let Mr. Konnen come back."

The teacher Amber was referring to was the former music and assistant band director that was suspended without pay for "immorality, incompetence, intemperance, persistent negligence and persistent and willful violation of the school laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," according to the school board last month. The suspension is related to a Web site that Konnen created while he was a student at Grove City College, according to the Pennsylvania State Education Association and school administrators.

But Amber wasn't buying it. "The Web page he has on the Internet was last updated by him in his senior year in college. My parents checked out the Web site, and they said it wasn't that bad. It has jokes that aren't that great for kids my age, but it's not that bad," she told board members.

"I'm pretty sure that we've all done things that weren't the greatest ideas in our lives," she continued. "What he did was a mistake, but that doesn't mean we should fire him. Let's say that as a child, that you, Dr. Post lied to your mother. But does that mean that you should lose your job as superintendent? No! We all deserve a second chance. That is why I think you should let Mr. Konnen come back."

After her speech, board President Stephen Gould thanked her for coming. "It took a lot of courage (for you to do this). We certainly will be taking this whole matter very seriously," he said.

Amber said she hopes that they do.

"I was really upset that they were firing him for something that he did in college. Rumors are spreading through the school because of that. I wanted to do something to help him get his job back," she said. "He like, taught us to be open about music -- to kind of enjoy music and let it relax into us."

She also said that most of her classmates are really upset about the situation. "They wanted to do something, but didn't know what. I just hope he comes back even though there's only 17 days of school left," Amber said. "People need to get to know what a wonderful teacher he is. I'm really disappointed more people didn't come."

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