Let teachers speak for themselves
Regarding the commissioners’ meeting referred to in the Friday (Feb. 27) edition of the Post: Shame on you, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Barber, for speaking on behalf of all teachers of Rowan County concerning the use of classroom supply money.
Maybe the teachers at the middle and high school levels do not use the supply money given to them by the county. The commissioners need to speak with elementary school teachers. Not only do they use this money; they also spend lots of their own money on supplies.
Elementary schools need more supplies than middle or high schools, such as paper, pencils, notebooks, folders, crayons, construction paper, bulletin board materials ó just to mention a few. They have to furnish things parents do not furnish, or cannot afford. But also, there are other items they need to help with teaching the curriculum, like visual aids and manipulatives.
Sometimes the money may not be spent due to the fact that the teachers have to pay up front (and cannot) unless they have a purchase order from the county to a specified place. Also, a new teacher may not have the money to buy first and get reimbursed later.
Before you pass judgment on the needs of all teachers, please consult with a representative sample of all teachers.
Please, commissioners, stop taking money away from the schools. You raise concerns about test scores but are all too eager to cut school budgets to spend elsewhere. These children are the future of Rowan County and need all the assistance we can give them.
ó Sandra Park
China Grove
Editor’s note: Park is a former substitute teacher and assistant in the Rowan-Salisbury schools.Veggie choices
Regarding Emily Ford’s March 1 column “Veggie tales”:
The article shows the author’s transformation from omnivore to vegetarian via the ethical route. While it certainly is a laudatory decision, I don’t feel that her ensuing actions bolster her commitment to reduce animal suffering. She points out the apparent hypocrisy of a vegetarian wearing leather shoes and explains it by saying, “But for me, wearing animal hide and consuming animal flesh are two different things.” Actually, they’re not. Whether you intend to eat it or to wear it, you’re still killing the animal, so how are those two different things?
And I don’t think it’s “the right thing” for a vegetarian to eat a ham sandwich just to placate someone. What happened to her drive to reduce animal suffering? Sure, the pig is already dead, but wouldn’t “the right thing” have been to politely decline the sandwiches and consume the other parts of the meal?
ó Hina Ayub
Arlington, Va.
Cruelty-free diet
Thank you for bringing attention to vegetarian diets with your recent article “Veggie tales.” It is nice to hear someone’s story about their path trough vegetarian eating.
In the future, I hope that you will include more stories about ethical eating and highlight a vegan lifestyle, which takes a cruelty-free diet to the next step. Being vegetarian is a wonderful start toward removing torture and slaughter from one’s diet, but we must also think of the cows and their babies who suffer for milk and all of the hens who suffer for eggs.
One of the best ways to help all animals is to adopt a vegan diet, which does not include any animal products.
ó Amanda Schemkes
Snohomish, Wash.
Sharing good deeds
There is great power in good parenting and guidance. Greater yet is the power of God’s instruction.
In the midst of the rubble and declining situations in our country and the world, as reported to us daily, it was wonderfully uplifting to read a story of hope and promise. Thank you, Steve Huffman, for your article (Feb. 25) about a special young man, John Abram Briggs. Even at the tender age of 7, I believe he heard God’s voice and then opened up his heart to obey. Blessed are all those who hear the word of God and don’t delay in acting upon it.
I like to envision a joint page in our local paper, opposite the Police Blotter that reports misdeeds. This Rewards Blotter would list good deeds. Ideally, the rewards list would flourish and eventually annihilate the other. God is always able to redeem any situation. He can restore. He can provide new and improved ways. He can bring good out of hopeless messes. We are never beyond his reach.
There is purpose and destiny for each of us in each new day. Why else would he give us breath for another single moment? May God continue to always bless you, John Abram Briggs.
ó Margaret T. Shumate
Salisbury