Thank you, Dr. Young

My family and I want to thank Dr. Young and the entire staff of the Mid Coast Senior Health Center for their hard work and selfless devotion in keeping our loved ones safe and healthy during this medical crisis.

Our mother lives there. We were so happy to see early and effective actions taken to safeguard the residents’ health and that of the staff.

It was the right course of action and we’re in no hurry to relax them until it is clearly safe to do so. The elderly are so vulnerable to getting this sickness.

As my 96-year-old mother stated, “I want to be here when my two new great-grandchildren arrive this year.”

We want her to be here too.

Keep up the good work. We keep all of you in our prayers.

Don Miskill,
Harpswell

A time to reflect and a time to change

Since mid-March’s distance learning, I have had technology help, professional development, and support from my administration. I’ve enjoyed glowing emails from parents, students singing me happy birthday on zoom, and the message that my lessons are creating meaning. Somehow, the school community has made me feel more valued as a teacher during virtual “Teacher Appreciation Week “ than ever before.

Not all educational systems, or teachers, have been as lucky. COVID-19 has put a magnifier on the inequities in our systems. There are huge discrepancies in what different school systems are providing based purely upon resources of each school and needs of each community. Public schools should provide equally for all students in the state — not just those with money.

I’m hoping that this global halt to our lives gives us time to reflect on rebuilding interconnected economic, health, environmental, educational, and community systems that evolve sustainable, humanistic, and equitable communities. In November, I am looking forward to a change in leadership in the U.S. I’m voting for Sara Gideon, due in part to her initiatives for increasing early childhood education, promoting higher wages and better benefits, expansion of trade, technical and job training programs. She’s a thoughtful leader, whom I’ve watched grow into a successful listener with the ability to move us forward toward these essential educational transitions. It’s a time for a change!

Carey Hotaling, Falmouth Middle School 8th Grade Teacher,
Freeport

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