Good schools are vital for any community

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor,

     In 1995, my then-fiancé landed his first teaching job – in Monticello. The year after, we were married and I joined him as a teacher in Monticello. Since then, we have chosen to make our home here, raise our two boys here, and continue our careers in education in the Monticello Community School District. Although neither of us are Monticello natives, we chose to stay in Monticello because we appreciated the opportunities it afforded our family both educationally and as a community.

     Now, 22 years later, we are still proud to be educators in the Monticello Community School District. Certainly we have much to celebrate. Perhaps you’ve seen recently some data points shared by the district via Twitter:

     • Monticello High School has the highest percentage of students proficient in mathematics out of all Grant Wood Area high schools.

     • Monticello High school has the highest percentage of students proficient in reading out of all Grant Wood Area high schools.

     • Monticello High School students score higher than the state average on all areas of the ACT each year.

     While these facts are from the high school, we know that these students didn’t get there without the hard work and foundational efforts of our elementary and middle school teachers, and they are to be commended for that as well.

     Although academics are certainly important, another reason to celebrate is the school spirit evident in our students and the sense of community within our district. Even in the elementary, Friday spirit days are a sea of black and red in the classrooms.

     I believe that the sense of spirit that we see evident at school actually begins within our community itself. As a core team member with Monticello Heart & Soul, I had the opportunity to study what residents of Monticello value about their community. This research was done in the form of surveys, interviews, community meetings and focus groups within the community. We identified five common values, and from those, brainstormed ideas on community projects. It is no surprise that educational opportunities was a core value, and one of the projects identified as a priority was to improve school facilities, which would “enhance educational opportunities for our children, maintain our competitive edge, and attract newcomers to the community.”

     Good schools attract and retain good citizens and can be a factor in economic growth and community vitality. Twenty-two years ago, we were those newcomers to the community, but I hope that in our time here, we have given back as much to the community as it has given to us. We have an opportunity on Sept. 11 to uphold our civic responsibility and vote in the school bond election. We look forward to the future of the Monticello Community School District and the community of Monticello and hope that it is a source of pride for years to come.

     Please join me in voting on Sept. 11.

 

Aimee Hospodarsky

Community member

Monticello, Iowa

     

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