For the first time in several years, I felt proud to be part of our Pickerington community last night. We filled the auditorium seats, balcony, aisles, hallways, doorways, and spilled outside onto the sidewalks of a building in Pickerington symbolizing our heritage as a community. More than a thousand citizens, parents and students attended our board meeting to support the heart & soul of our community ?… our schools. The focus was on our kids and their future.
As the entire State watched, our school board president, Wes Monhollen, as he chaired the meeting did an outstanding job of demonstrating that government is of the people, by the people and for the people. Much to the credit of Dr. Rigelman, he acknowledged that the board had already approved preparing a participation fee plan to replace taxpayers dollars on February 3rd following the removal of most of the extracurricular funding from the general fund to balance the budget. As a unit, our board was exemplary last night. As reported in the Dispatch today, I was glad to see Mike Sewell picture as he presented a petition from 300 teachers encouraging the board to save ALL extracurricular activities.
However, there were two very emotional moments for me last night that press will not report and even the vast majority of the crowd in attendance did not realize. The first was the individual that received the loudest and longest ovation ?… a high school teacher, Doug Forrest. Mr. Forrest did not speak; he was there to receive the high school teacher of the year award. Mr. Forrest teaches high school Advanced Placement Physics, Honor Physics and other science courses. Imagine a physics teacher getting a huge standing ovation from high school students. Mr. Forrest represents what is so very excellent about our schools ?… outstanding teachers. It should be noted that of the 10 top students featured in one of the newspapers last year, Mr. Forrest was signaled out as the best teacher from the seven of the students.
The second was the presence of a huge group of high school seniors at the board meeting. All are voters and all are not impacted personally by the board decisions. These students are our future ?… maybe our next Township Trustee, Board Member, City Council person, State Representative, and maybe in a few years even President. Some seniors arrived at 5:30 p.m. to get front row seats with hand-made signs. The other 40+group of seniors joined them on the floor of the auditorium as finished their other commitments. Interestingly, Dispatch Reporter Kathy Gray arriving approximately 6:55 p.m. had to join the seniors who completely filled the floor of the auditorium in front of the stage as the place had been overflowing since 6:30 p.m.
These seniors felt a sense of community and believed in a noble cause. They understood how political participation can make a difference to elected officials. They understood how elected officials actions make a difference to the community. They witnessed area businesses stepping up to the plate and offering valuable funding to help ?– not their education ?– but the education of their fellow students.
Yes, the best in Pickerington was seen last night.
As the entire State watched, our school board president, Wes Monhollen, as he chaired the meeting did an outstanding job of demonstrating that government is of the people, by the people and for the people. Much to the credit of Dr. Rigelman, he acknowledged that the board had already approved preparing a participation fee plan to replace taxpayers dollars on February 3rd following the removal of most of the extracurricular funding from the general fund to balance the budget. As a unit, our board was exemplary last night. As reported in the Dispatch today, I was glad to see Mike Sewell picture as he presented a petition from 300 teachers encouraging the board to save ALL extracurricular activities.
However, there were two very emotional moments for me last night that press will not report and even the vast majority of the crowd in attendance did not realize. The first was the individual that received the loudest and longest ovation ?… a high school teacher, Doug Forrest. Mr. Forrest did not speak; he was there to receive the high school teacher of the year award. Mr. Forrest teaches high school Advanced Placement Physics, Honor Physics and other science courses. Imagine a physics teacher getting a huge standing ovation from high school students. Mr. Forrest represents what is so very excellent about our schools ?… outstanding teachers. It should be noted that of the 10 top students featured in one of the newspapers last year, Mr. Forrest was signaled out as the best teacher from the seven of the students.
The second was the presence of a huge group of high school seniors at the board meeting. All are voters and all are not impacted personally by the board decisions. These students are our future ?… maybe our next Township Trustee, Board Member, City Council person, State Representative, and maybe in a few years even President. Some seniors arrived at 5:30 p.m. to get front row seats with hand-made signs. The other 40+group of seniors joined them on the floor of the auditorium as finished their other commitments. Interestingly, Dispatch Reporter Kathy Gray arriving approximately 6:55 p.m. had to join the seniors who completely filled the floor of the auditorium in front of the stage as the place had been overflowing since 6:30 p.m.
These seniors felt a sense of community and believed in a noble cause. They understood how political participation can make a difference to elected officials. They understood how elected officials actions make a difference to the community. They witnessed area businesses stepping up to the plate and offering valuable funding to help ?– not their education ?– but the education of their fellow students.
Yes, the best in Pickerington was seen last night.
