To the Editor:
My name is Katie Cioe and I am a student at Staples High School. My father, Crispin Cioe, is a renowned musician and my mother is a retired reporter and currently owns her own business. We live on 4 Valley Road in Westport. I want to thank you for being an entertaining source of information and every time I visit your Web site I am thoroughly informed of recent happenings in Westport.
I wish the sole reason for this letter could be to express how I love when a picture of myself is posted when I am involved in a town event or how I want to publicize a new club or event. However, unfortunately I am writing to you on the more serious manner of the education budget cut that Westport is faced with today.
I am currently a student in the Collab (Collaborative) course which is a class that has been affected by this horrific budget cut. Collab is a non-traditional U.S. history course where students are engaged in-depth discussions and exposed to important texts such as “A Peoples’ History of the United States” by Howard Zinn and “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood.
This is a course where U.S. History Honors and English Two Honors are combined and students learn educational units as a collaboration of both Social Studies and English. Students learn how to synthesize information and at the end of each quarter write an in-depth analysis of their performance.
According to the new budget, Collab will not be available to students next year. Along with this course, Robotics, Latin American Studies, Senior Option, and many other unique classes will be erased from the Staples curriculum. I am deeply saddened by this drastic cut because it affects my future and my career at Staples. Collab has helped me realize my serious inclination toward government.
Through exposure to current events, Collab is a place where my critical thinking skills have developed. Due to this, I have joined Junior Statesman of America and will participate in my first debate at Staples High School on Saturday, April 25 against prestigious schools like Hunter, Horace Mann, High School of Math and Science, and many various other esteemed private schools. One of the reasons a public school can go up against such highly ranked private schools is because of the dedication this town has to education.
Staples High School was recently ranked No. 1 in the state and the entire Staples community was thrilled at this fact. However, this budget cut seems to disagree with our status because we are cutting the classes that make our school “the private school with no tuition” anomaly it is. Robotics, Collab, and other unique courses are vital to helping students realize their interests and helping them gain the drive to pursue their interests in the future. It would be a shame to let our children’s future go to waste.
Staples High School is one of the crown gems of Westport society. From Wreckers football games to Players’ Productions to Teacher of the Year ceremonies, there is a lot to be proud of at Staples. We truly deserve our No. 1 ranking, or at least we did. I realize we are in a deep economic recession and no one understands this more than students at Staples. We are the ones who are going to have bills to pay and have to try and restore our country in the future.
Clearly, we, as the youth, feel this burden as much anyone in Westport. However, if this budget is replenished, it comes out to a mere $12 a household a month, and $144 per household a year. We need to invest in our children’s future and make this sacrifice.
It is these classes that make Staples what it is. If we let the value and reputation of Staples High School, then other aspects for Westport will decline as well. Housing prices will drop and town will lose many important members of our society. The youth will lose trust in the board and will exude less Westport pride
The main reason my parents moved me here from Fieldston Ethical Culture Private School in New York City was the education system. If we instate this budget cut, then house prices could go down and we could no longer have the same Westport pride. I implore you to make this decision and help the future of our children and the future of America. Thank you for your time.
Katie Cioe
Westport
