Dear Editor:
“Mom, what are you doing up there?” This was the question my kindergartner asked me when he and his two older sisters attended a recent GUFS School Board meeting. I am currently serving out the end of my first three-year term on the board and was seated with the other members up at the front of the room behind the blue-skirted table: all very official to a six-year-old boy. I told him that it’s important to be “up there,” up where you can take your ideas off the playground, out of the cocktail party, from your dinner table and put them into action. Engagement in the community — helping to make shared decisions about our shared resources and goals — is a value I want to model for my children every day.
Charlotte Rowe
My priorities for a second term include several important balancing acts. We must maintain value in public education by continuing to look for creative and resourceful ways to achieve academic excellence at the same time we are keeping taxes low and within state constraints. Another balancing act is between state mandates and local vision as we work to define a clear framework for the Garrison School curriculum. We also face challenges in implementing a responsible technology plan that appropriately integrates new tools into classroom instruction to meet modern demands. And it is imperative that all of these changes take place within a constructive environment that emphasizes fair expectations and a happy learning environment for our children.
I would appreciate your support on Election Day. The polls are open on Tuesday, May 21, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Garrison School Library. Learn more about my experience and goals for the school at the PTA’s Meet the Candidates Night on May 15 at 7 p.m. in the School Library or visit charlotterowe.info.
Charlotte Rowe
Garrison
