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Show (The Page A7 (Eimrs-3htbcpcnc- Thursday, July 3, 2003 nt Letters to the Editor Superintendent not invested in students' best interests Dear Editor, I have been living and working in Grand since 1987 and married Tom Edwards County in 1991. In 1993 Margaret Hopkin offered Tom a position as middle school counselor. He was thrilled to start in this position and he was thrilled to move back to Moab, as we had briefly moved to Carbon County. At the time there was not a counselor in the schools and Tom created his job description. At the request of the School Board he returned to school at his personal expense as his background and degree was in mental health, not school counseling. This occurred a year after working as the counselor. In the beginning, he had time to create groups for all students that wanted to be in a group. Most of these had a particular focus such as anger management or bereavement. Some of these groups were oriented towards sendee, by creating fundraisers for people who were awaiting transplants or chemotherapy. Tom has brought students to the senior center in order to help them understand the elderly and he has created a tutoring group with children at Red Rock School. He has taken them on trips to Arizona, Colorado and Northern Utah for skiing, to visit colleges and other activities. He has donated his weekend time, his money and our vehicles. Tom has developed the Comprehension Guidance Program as promoted by the Utah State Office of Education and he has dotted every I and crossed every T in order to have money flow TO the School District from the Office of Education. He has scheduled Student Education Occupation Plan (SEOP) interviews with every middle school student and their family in this community for the past 7 years. For the past 3 or 4 years he has scheduled with every student in the 7th and 8th grades, as well as the 9th grades. He also ran groups at the High School. Toms involvement at the high school created a counselor position, thus meeting the ratio requirements of the Northwest Accreditation standards of the Association of Schools to which all high schools are required to belong. In addition to these services, Tom has responded during nights and weekends to families that are concerned about their children. He has assessed crises and triaged and coordinated with community agencies such as the Division of Child and Family Services and Four Comers Community Behavioral Health. school-sponsore- d . . . has responded during the middle of the to night students who were worried about their friends. He has responded to families that are going through crisis, regardless of their backgrounds or their religious persuasions. I thought that I knew a lot of people in Moab, but I have been shocked over the years at people Tom knows and how many people have said things to me like "My child would not have made it though the middle school if it had not been for Tom Edwards. Parents and grandparents alike have made these comments. He how-man- One local business owner commented that "Tom has become the role model for the many young men in our community who do not have fathers or their fathers are not invested in them." We both understand that this is not a good economic time in our country. We understand is occurring everyw here. I that it is painful is to learn that the school budget has been mismanaged and to wonder if these cuts would not have been made if the budget was handled correctly. This situation was handled very poorly. Tom did not expect a after ten years or severance pay. gold However, the appropriate social skills from Superintendent Ferguson to be able to say, Thank you or This was a difficult decision or good luck would have been nice. We have learned that cutting out the middle school counselor position was not plan A" for budget cuts from Tom Cox, the middle school principal. Plan A would not have eliminated jobs or forced people to consider leaving this community. We have been committed to this community and expected to retire here. Now this is not a certainty. Superintendent Ferguson, for whatever reason, was invested in plan B, the elimination of the school counselor, which he recommended to the School Board. The lowest blow has been to learn of Superintendent Fergusons desire to try to keep the Comprehensive Guidance money flowing to this community without having a counselor in the middle school to run a program His plan is to hire an aide to run this program. It seems to me that Superintendent Ferguson is not invested in supporting the best interests of the students of Grand County. His answer to a budget disaster lacks creativity and vision. Terry Galen Moab down-sizin- lovv-eve- g r, Why hasn't Summo USA's proposal on tailings been considered? Editor: Those who still want to see the Altas Mill tailings moved should ask why Summo USAs proposal to truck the tails to their Lisbon Valley copper project, and encapsulate them in the copper heap leach facility, has never been seriously entertained or pursued by the DOE, the State of Utah, or the Grand Canyon Trust, and is not being considered as an alternative in the EIS. We remain whiling to discuss this alternative, which we maintain is with capping the tails in place, but we hae found no interest on the part of any of the senior stakeholders in pursuing it. Greg Hahn, President Summo USA Corporation Moab has resisted the "mailing of America" . . . Dear Editor, In early June, my husband and I brought our two daughters to Moab for their first visit. He and I had previously visited Moab a number of times in the late 80s and early 90s. What prompts this letter is my delight that Moab has resisted the mailing of America. By that phrase I mean that most other towns that cater to a substantial number of tourists now have the same ubiquitous stores, shops and eateries. Imagine our delight to find that Moab still has family owned local businesses that are vibrant and thriving! Once we discovered Breakfast at Tiffanys, we ate there every morning and enjoyed getting to know and be known by the proprietor. Another significant plus for our family was the accessibility either by foot or by bike) to most everything we wanted to see, do or buy in town. Parking the car and enjoying the ambience at a human pace creates such a positive vibe for vacationers like-us- Congratulations to the residents and elected officials for preserving Moabs uniqueness! Tricia O'Neill Lutherville, MD School administrators support superintendent Dear Editor, writing this letter to express our Superintendent Ron Ferguson. As Grand the County School District administrative team, we have found the superintendent We are support for to be supportive and approachable. He provides us with the information and resources necessary to effectively operate our schools. Certainly the late audit was an error. However, it should not overshadow the positive accomplishments of our school district under the leadership of Superintendent Ferguson. Grand Countys parent and community interest and support for education are at an e high. This is cause difficult In times of state for celebration. these if and federal school budget cuts, our community can work cohesively we have an unprec- all-tim- . . . . edented opportunity to improve education for all students in Grand County School District We view Superintendent Fergusons leadership role as crucial in this endeavor. Rather than fragment our momentum at this time, we support moving ahead on the positive school improvement ideas put forth by the Parents for Public Schools, Moab Community School supporters and parents who responded to questions in the spring District Parent Survey. Sincerely, Tom Brown, Grand County High School Sherrie Buckingham. Red Rock Elementary School Margaret Hopkin, HMK Intermediate School Taryn Kay, Director of Student Services Deputy Steve White (center) carries the torch at the head of a crowd in Vienna. Austria. Photo courtesy of Special Olympics Deputy Steve White carried torch for Special Olympics in Europe Jeff hards Ric by contributing writer Grand County Sheriffs Deputy Stew White recently returned from a month-lontrip to Europe, where he participated in the Law Enforcement Torch Run that kicked oft the Special Oh mpic- - World Summer Game- - in Dublin. Ireland For White, a 10 year of the Grand ('minty g vet-era- Sheriff's ( Mfice. the experience was a opportunity. "I didnt realize the cope of it until I got mer there1.'' -- White said Tuesday, three day - after he returned home "There were law enforcement officers from all over the w orld. White's trip lasted four weeks, from June to.JuneJH He was on hand m Athens. Greece on June 4 when the Special Olympics "Flame of Hope" was first lit in a special ceremony. The next day. White and dozens of other international law enforcement officers and Special Olympics athlete-bega- n the torch run, which actually split up into three separate route- - (covering much of the western, central, and northern part- - of Europe for a few days before comergBelgium ing again in Brus-el- -. 1 on June 10 Whites Route 3 team carried the torch along a path in that included Istanbul, Turkey. Budupe-t- . Hungary; Vienna. and Prague, Czech Republic He said the most memorable part of his trip wa- - being foAu-tri- a. llowed by 5,000 exuberant chi dren along the streets I of Istanbul. White said he and the other law' enforcement officer-ra- n as many as 14 mill's per day as they made their wav across the continent After the three teams met again in Brussels, the torch run continued into London on June 11, then proceeded through Glasgow, Scotland, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, the following day. Upon entering Ireland, Grand County Sheriff's Deputy Steve White (right) poses with law enforcement officers from Hawaii (center) and South Carolina (left) on June 21 in Dublin, Ireland, at the opening ceremonies of the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games. Photo courtesy of Steve White Game-- , the largest sporting Schwarzenegger, the- - desig- event m the world this year The caldron at the stadium wa- - lit by the final nated Global Torchbearer for Special Olympics. White' said he- w ishes to Special thank Roxie Arthur, torch-beare- r. Olympic- - athlete David McCauley of Ireland, and a pectacular firework- lit up the Dublin Ncl.-n- n Mandela then declared the games open for eight day- - of competition in 2 port- m 22 venue- - in Dublin and Belfast More than 7.000 athlete- - from 150 countries -- di-pl- ay 1 -- participated The games weekend, and ended la- -t Utah's delegation of athlete's returned from Ireland on July White said Also during the opening ceremonies, a welcome statement from President Vladimir Putin was read to the audience' of nearly 80,000. Notable' figure's in the crowd 1 . Ru-si- an included Special Olympics Foundi'r Eunice1 Kennedy Shriver, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, politicians and royalty from around the world, and various entertainers, including U2, Colin Farrell, Jon Bon Jovi, Dylan McDermott, Ashley Judd, Heath er Locklear, and Arnold - Curt Brewer, and the1 rest of the Grand County Sheriffs Office for their assistance and support. "I couldn't have done it w ithout their help, he said. According to its own web-itSpecial Olympics is dedicated to empowering individuals with mental disabilities to become physically fit, e, productive and respected me'inbers of society through sports training and competitraintion. It offers and in 26 competition ing yttur-roun- d summer and winter sports, with no charge to participate. With over 200 programs in more than 150 countries, Special Olympics Olympic-typ- e now serves 1 million people, and that number is expected to double by 2005. The Law Enforcement Torch Run, which began in 1981, is Special Olympics largest grass-root- s fundraiser and public awareness vehicle. Last year, an estimated 85.000 law enforcement officers raised over $20 million for Special Olympics programs the law enforcement officers on the Final Leg team were joined by members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Garda Siochana (Ireland's National Police Force). The flame was then taken through more than 130 communities throughout Ireland. Letters to the editor policy does not necessarily endorse the opinions published in letters to the editor and guest editorials. The T- welcomes opinions from its readers concerning any subject pertinent to Southeastern Utah. Letters should be to the point and must include the writers name, address and telephone number. Letters may not be used to replace advertisements, or to list and thank sponsors or participants to a particular event. Letters to the editor will be not be accepted from any candidate who has filed for political office or from anyone writing in support of a filed candidate. Anything unsigned, of a libelous nature, or containing defamatory statements wiii not be considered for publication. All letters must be typed or legibly written, and be 400 words or less. Letters are subject to editing. Mail to Letter to the Editor," P.O. Box 129, Moab, Utah, 84532. Deadline is Monday, 5 p.m. to editormoabtimes.com. The Letters may also be sent via may not accept letters from persons who write more frequently than once every four weeks. Changes to letters to the editor after submission will be accepted only in the most extreme circumstances. The Times-lndepende- nt -l Times-lndepende- Ireland was spectacular, You had crowds of thousands everywhere you went. White said he ran with the torch in about 35 different cities in Ireland alone. Whites wife Michelle White recalled. nt ended up joining him in Ireland for the last few days of the trip. On June 21, having traveled an estimated 9,000 miles total, the flame finally made its way to Dublins Croke Park stadium for the opening ceremonies of the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Deputy White snapped this photo of the crowd behind him while running across a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey on June 5. Photo by Steve White |