Your vote March 11 is crucial to the future of our kids and our public schools. We need to rally around our public schools and teachers who have been disrespected and shortchanged for at least 20 years.
At a candidate forum in our town, Hannah Daniels, a senior at ConVal, spoke eloquently about her experience in the District that stretched from kindergarten to the present. She told us how ConVal had shaped her with challenging Advanced Placement and Running Start courses that allow students to earn college credit through local colleges, the strength and confidence she’s gained from being part of and captain of two team sports and mastering a foreign language (five years of German) that she will get to use on a trip to Austria this spring.
She spoke about enriched biology with hands-on work in Belize, learning the joy of making art with the help of her ceramics teacher and as she said, “so much more.” She is looking forward to a career helping others as an occupational therapist. To this end, the school district has been able to provide her with hands-on experience prior to graduation through an internship at Monadnock Community Hospital.
We can’t argue more persuasively than her story does. The proposed budget cap, Article 9, would very likely weaken or eliminate the very opportunities that give our students like this one the tools they need to go forward.
The ConVal school budget is the work of dedicated School Board members who have worked to ensure that our kids get the quality education they need and deserve. At a time when the budget-busting voucher programs are draining essential funds from our public schools, we need to stand firm in support of all our kids.
Eleanor Bellows Cochrane
Hancock