Parent responds to school board candidates

School board candidate Peter Elespuru says, "The whole school district is tired … It lacks concern for all the students." Peter Elespuru, do your homework.

I have two kids at the high school, one in ninth grade and the other in 10th. Did I consider hopping on the bandwagon to send my kids to Glacier High School? You better believe I did. Who could blame a parent for wanting their child to attend a new/beautiful school with a food court?

Like Peter said, "It's fun." Well, I felt I owed it to the community I live in to try Whitefish High School before jumping ship. I even got involved as a PTA coordinator so I could be within the walls of WHS as often as I could. All I can say is, I am truly grateful we stayed.

Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no problem with a parent's decision to send their child to a different school because they feel it is in the best interest of their child. However, many of us know that there are quite a few families that sent their kids over to GHS because of the "fun" atmosphere of the new beautiful building.

Well, when I was growing up, school wasn't about fun — it was about an education. Not all kids are going to enjoy the school they go to. It isn't necessarily indicative of the school itself but can be the cause of many adolescent issues.

WHS has an excellent track record for their academics and the colleges their graduated seniors have attended. One of many examples includes one of our current seniors, who happens to be a 4.0 GPA scholar athlete, was from only one of three high schools in the state of Montana that received a football scholarship to the University of Montana. So if anybody thinks they need to go to a different school to be "noticed" for athletics, think again. Congratulations Derrek Crittendon.

During the last two years, as a parent and PTA coordinator of WHS, I have witnessed dedicated teachers and staff members who go above and beyond to ensure our students are in the best educational environment possible. On top of that, I have had teachers call me if they felt my child was down (thank you, Kim Schneider), I have had teachers send me e-mails when my child has done something nice to another student — when typically those e-mails/phone calls come when a student has done something bad (thank you, Lucy McFadden).

I have seen the WHS athletics director, which can seem like a thankless job more times than not, put endless hours into her job as AD, coaching a successful volleyball program, greeting the kids as they arrive back from their lunch hour, being a chaperone at dances — the list goes on (thank you, Jackie Fuller).

Are all of the teachers and staff perfect? Absolutely not, but our Whitefish teachers do care for these kids. To read the comment "we need fresh energy and it needs to be from the top down" tells me maybe one, or more, of our candidates haven't been in the schools lately and should do some more homework before making such reckless statements.

It also concerns me that a board member candidate would admit to violating a policy if he is elected. I'm not saying I agree with the policy (I would need to know more about it before making an opinion), but I would like to see him fight to change a policy he disagrees with first before willingly violating it. I'm all about free speech, but is this setting a good example for our students?

I would agree that our school spirit can use some improvements, which is why the new WHS principal Dave Carlson gave the green light to bring back the homecoming parade. Kelliann Blackburn, Kelly Haverlandt, Todd Spangler and others put tons of effort and many hours of their free time into organizing a terrific event which brought community members out in support that hasn't been seen in years. This type of change doesn't happen overnight, but what a success the 2009 parade was. I have to believe it will only get better.

As far as academics go, I have heard the argument that other schools offer more AP courses. I have also heard that 11th grade AP courses at one neighboring school may be equivalent to what our 10th graders are learning at WHS. Furthermore, next year WHS will begin Freshman Academy and this year WHS principal Dave Carlson implemented collaborative teams and monthly parent advisory group meetings (amongst other things). I, personally, have a hard time believing there is another high school in the Flathead Valley that can offer a better education than WHS.

Whitefish High School has been here for more than 105 years. Times are changing, and maybe not everything that has worked in the past will be right for our future. New Building, closed campus, school resource officer, etc. are all subjects that many parents have passionate feelings towards.

Almost all of the families I come in contact with on a regular basis that have kids at our schools seem pleased with our district, but very frustrated with the unnecessary negativity that some folks can't seem to let go. We certainly don't need this negative energy with board members, too. Not one of the board members featured in last week's paper had anything positive to say about our great schools and that bothers me.

Bottom line — we live in an extraordinary town, and our kids attend schools with wonderful traditions. Our community will only get better as our school community moves forward in a positive manner. Rather than hastily ridiculing procedures our hard working teachers and administrators are continuously striving to improve (yes, they know everything isn't perfect and are working very hard every day to make things better), let's show them our support by choosing school board members who will work together with them for the better educational experience of our kids.

Jeannie Sattler lives in Whitefish.