I was forwarded the following email from a friend who had received it from another. The email is from Middletown Board of Education Candidate Bob Banta, who along with his ticket mate Jerry Wexelberg, are each seeking to be elected to 1 of 3 - full three year terms to the Middletown Board of Education in Wednesday's Board of Education election.
The email was introductory in nature and tells the readers a little about both Banta and Wexelberg and what they would like to accomplish if elected to the Board of Education:
Parents,
I would like to take a moment to ask for your support and appeal to your sense of community. I have been the Director of Soccer for the St. Mary's Athletic Association for about 5 years now and with the program for a few more than that. I have had the privilege and honor of working with some of the best volunteers in our community dedicated to youth sports here from our SMAA Board of Directors to all of our Coaches and Assistant Coaches, as well as hundreds of the best kids anywhere! In this time, I have seen our program grow from about 35 teams of approximately 350 kids to our present 78 teams of OVER 1100 kids.
One of the great things about this program is that it is made up of kids from all over Middletown, from many of the elementary and middle schools as well as St. Mary's and some of the other Catholic schools. There have been drastic budget cuts to the Board of Education's budget last year and this years budget is well under the 2% cap set by the Governor. If afforded an opportunity, I would like to make sure all the kids in our town are receiving the best education possible as well as be part of the process to ensure that these budget cuts don't translate to necessary programs being cut. I am sure that as a fellow taxpayer you may agree that all of our tax dollars for education should be carefully spent on the children's education and not wasted in areas that the kids do not receive a direct benefit from. I would also like to see that all of the youth programs in town have a better and more realistic opportunity to use the existing facilities at our public schools which all of our taxes support. I am looking forward to helping the existing board work together in one direction and use my unique team building skills to unite the other board members. These are some of the reasons I have filed the paperwork to be on the ballot for the Middletown Board of Education election this April.
Finally, I would like to let all the parents know that I am going to be running with Jerry Wexelberg in this election. Jerry is a longtime Middletown resident and has supported the education system as well as the athletic programs of our public schools for many years now. He is currently the President of the Booster Club for High School North. Jerry and I share many of the same views on many issues related to the Board of Education.
Thank you for your time and consideration and I hope we can count on your support on Election Day! Please ask as many families, friends and neighbors as possible to come out this coming Wednesday, April 27th and vote.
Sincerely,
Bob Banta
SMAA Director of Soccer
2 comments:
Barry Travis seems to be the only one actually concerned with academic excellence. The others seem very focused on the non-academic issues in the school district like soccer and the use of fields etc. Though he is young, he appears to be unusually mature and aware of what is needed for the future. He will be getting my vote- I'm still struggling to find two other candidates for the three year terms who I could pull the lever for.
t
Agreed, I was very impressed by Barry Travis as well. He spoke of what is working and what is not working in our schools education wise. Being a recent graduate his insight is most contemporary. I think students would look to him as a role model.
He has good ideas as to improving teacher evaluations and he would bring a fresh approach to improving the education of our children.
Being a college student only adds to his credibility in his desire to serve and to improve the education opportunities for our children.
I think he is head and shoulders above the other candidates.
Post a Comment