Guest Post: How Can Anyone Make a Suggestion?
A district resident gave me the following. It isn't really a follow-on to any recent post, but I thought it was of interest. I asked her if I could put it up as a post in its own right. What follows are her words:
Your comments are welcome, as always.
The other day I attended the year-end bluegrass concert at the Dexter Middle School. The three bands played to a very appreciative audience in a performance that was a full two and a half hours long.
Before one of the intermission breaks, Mr. Prickitt, the director of the festivities, suggested to the audience that a performing arts stage would be a desirable addition to the proposed new middle school and said that he hoped the audience would support such an idea. His suggestion implied that not only would the acoustics be better, but that a stage would be more visually appealing and that more comfortable seating arrangements could be made for future audiences. The present audience was having a "hard time" with the bleachers.
My question is how, when, or under what circumstances would anyone be able to make such a suggestion? I do know that at least for the last two years you [former School Board members Art Jette and Mel Johnson - ed.] have posed this question and others like it in your yearly reports for the town of Garland. But it's troubling that there have been no forums or even surveys of district voters on what facilities they would like to have in their new school.
Does this present superintendent really think that he can get a positive vote without consideration of the voters' wishes? After all, they are the ones ultimately paying for a new school. Does he really think that the voters don't want to make suggestions or have their wishes known?
I also fail to see the relevance of any of the architect's work if he doesn't even know what area voters want in their new building. I recently heard that over $200,000 has already been spent for this architect's services. I think this smacks of mismanagement, arrogance, and scandal.
Your comments are welcome, as always.
posted by PP | 5/28/2006 07:02:00 AM
1 Comments:
"My question is how, when, or under what circumstances would anyone be able to make such a suggestion?"
I guess my answer is, who better to make the suggestion than a person who has devoted the past 5 years to teaching and mentoring our children to become young performers? Chris has invested his time, at no personal profit, to teach our children to play, record, and perform in front of live audiences. The ability to take a group of diverse and, initially, reluctant participants from a collection of choppers to a tight, musical machine is a gift that few of us have. We are blessed to have a person like Chris Prickett willing to impart his knowledge and love of music on our kids.
The proof is in the pudding. The next generation of students, the Wanderers, are more than twice the number as the original Ramblers. It wouldn't surprise me to see the next generation doubling in size, yet again. 10 years from now, that represents a critical mass of people who could literally change the face of our community. The question really is, how do we foster and encourage the development?
Why not make the investment in our community? Why not have a public center to provide a creative outlet and showcase local talent? Done properly, a Performing Arts Center could eventually pay for itself.
I share Chris's sentiments and I would hope that others in Dexter see the value of a public location where performing arts are encouraged and facilitated. We should have a community dialogue on this amd I, for one, am happy that Chris has made the suggestion.
Bob Lockhart
Dexter, ME
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