Thanks for teaching respect
I want to thank the coaches for the Groveport Madison football team for teaching our boys respect.
I have been at several of the football games on Friday night and Saturday morning this year. As long as I have known, it was always the practice that when a player was hurt on the field, that both sides took a knee, out of respect to that player.
Unfortunately, most of the teams that I have seen play this year are not continuing this practice. But our Groveport boys are still taking a knee. I am truly saddened to see the lack of respect that is being shown by other teams. There was even one game where the other team’s band continued to hoop and holler while a player was down on the field. I find this disheartening.
Our coaches teach our boys that when a player is hurt, whether it be on our team or the other team, that a knee is taken until that player gets up off the field.
I would like to reach out to all those coaches who are not making their players take a knee. Let us teach respect and showmanship to all players. Let our boys be the example to follow.
Thank you again to the Groveport Madison coaches for continuing to teach our boys how to show respect on the field.
Judy Lively
Columbus
A father’s dedication to his children
This letter was given to my children on Oct. 7 to express my gratitude for their efforts in school and my commitment to their education. I share it in hopes that voters consider the upcoming Canal Winchester school levy and its importance to our children’s future.
"Dear Kids,
I want you to know that I am very proud of your efforts in school. Halie, you repeatedly have achieved Honor Society, been committed to leadership in both school and social activities (including dance and community service). Colton and Taylor (aka Peanie), you continue to work hard to complete your homework tasks and are starting a great trend of success that should permeate your entire scholastic career. I think it is important that you take pride in your school, just as I have found pride in you! I want you to know that just as you commit to your school and your learning, I too, will commit efforts to your learning process. I will continue to support you by encouraging you to participate in school activities, extracurricular activities, tutoring, and any other means to make your school days memorable and successful. I am very proud of you. Keep up the good work.
Love, Dad"
Although the message seems simple, it is complex in the sense of how we can achieve success as parents and a community. In a time of a hard market, how do we increase spending for our schools? The answer comes quickly to my mind. Make a commitment that so many before us have made.
Commit to our schools and commit to our youth. Commit to the education that will transform these young men and women into a great next generation. Commit to do whatever it takes to allow our children and the next generation to succeed, as we were given that opportunity by generations before us.
Yes, this extra money could be spent on groceries, gasoline, or a grande mocha latte; but, what will go further? A few tanks of gas, a month’s worth of food, a year’s worth of lattes, or the education of our youth? When times are tough it is hard to spend that extra money; however, I think we would be remiss if we didn’t fully evaluate the impact it has on our community and our children.
We can quibble over details of why the schools should be funded differently by the state, debate the philosophy of how schools should budget its bond and operational expenditures, and discuss the impact that school funding has in direct correlation with our home values; but in the end the goal is the same. We should make a commitment to our schools, to our children, to our community, and to ourselves.
In a time when we are seeing the ripple effect of economic decisions of corporate America, we too, will have a ripple effect if we don’t pass an operational levy soon. Our schools’ level of education will suffer (driving quality families from our district and into neighboring districts or more appropriately funded districts), our housing market in Canal Winchester will decline providing a long-term impact on the value of our investments, and our sense of community will be challenged with the shrinking of families of school age children. We are already seeing a decline in the enrollment into our school systems, a decline in housing prices (not all directly related to the schools, of course), and a significant decline in our schools’ State Report Card.
For those of us with school age children, I have no problem with Pay-to-Play for extracurricular activities, as that is something we have chosen to do and it is not the responsibility of every resident to fund that; however, when we have to pay $25 weekly to employ a tutor to make sure that the fundamental mathematic principles are learned by our children, that’s a problem.
We need to fund these schools to allow adequate staff, to provide a sound education, and to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for the children of tomorrow. I ask that you vote "yes" on this school levy, to help me and many others keep their commitment to their children and provide our children with a bright future. Said simply by an unknown writer, "be nice to your children, they will choose your nursing home" and they will be the ones taking care of us. Lets’ make sure they are well educated so we get good, quality care.
Trevis Davie
Canal Winchester
