Closing School for Blind would be a disservice
The House Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services has proposed closing the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh. The idea is to consolidate the School for the Deaf with the School for the Blind. This would be a travesty for all the visually impaired students who attend school there.
Our daughter Jasmyne is a residential student who just started school there in September. She was previously enrolled in the Rowan-Salisbury School System. Since enrolling, she has excelled socially as well as academically. She never had the opportunity to participate in organized sports when she was enrolled in the Rowan-Salisbury Schools, but now that she is at GMS she has participated in cheerleading, goal ball and track. Jasmyne learned a lot academically while enrolled at RSSS. yet her social, daily living and independent living skills suffered. Having one without the other is not letting our visually impaired children be productive members of our society.
Closing this school and/or consolidating it with the School for the Deaf would be a disservice. As we all know, Raleigh is the state capital and students are given the opportunity to travel in large city areas; a skill they will need to make it in this ever-changing and diverse world that we live. Students at GMS have the latest technology available to them and the teachers and instructors there are well trained to give these young men and women the tools they will need to excel. Closing this school would lead them to be left behind their sighted peers.
We need to speak out about this injustice and let our legislators know that we do not want this to happen.
ó Rhonda & Morris Jones
Salisbury
Training helps save lives
As the director of Health and Safety Services at the Rowan County American Red Cross, I just wanted to let the fine people of Rowan County know that I am so pleased to be affiliated with the YMCAs of Rowan County. They are what we call authorized providers. They are trained in CPR/AED and first aid by the American Red Cross, and in turn, they train a lot of people through the YMCA in CPR/AED and first aid. These people are then certified through the American Red Cross. We would never be able to get as many people trained as we do without the YMCAs and our other authorized providers.
After the incident a couple of weeks ago in which the young man had the heart attack, the staff was able to perform CPR on him and use an AED (automated external defibrillator) until emergency personnel arrived. They were able to save this young man’s life because they were trained in CPR/AED through the American Red Cross.
Take this opportunity to take a class and get trained. You might find yourself in a situation where you may have to save a family member, friend, neighbor, co-worker or even a stranger.
Call 704-633-3854 or your local YMCA to sign up for a class today. Let’s all be prepared to save someone’s life, just like the people at the J.F. Hurley YMCA did!
ó Amy McGuire
Landis
McGuire is director of Health and Safety Services with the Elizabeth Hanford Dole Chapter of the Red Cross.
Keep focus on spay/neuter
I’d like to commend the Rowan County Board of Health for their much thought out decision to allow public viewing of euthanasia at the Rowan County Animal Shelter.
No one wants to see this as the final solution to animal overpopulation. Director Leonard Wood stressed that the emphasis should be spay/neuter to avoid this distasteful solution. Hopefully we can partner in making this horrible problem a thing of the past. The method of their death is debatable. The fact that such a thing is necessary begs to be addressed.
I particularly commend Board Members Dan Mikkelson and Rick Parker for the genuine concern and effort they put into this decision. I hope that anyone who chooses to view euthanasia at the shelter does so in a spirit of understanding and respect. It’s not how we kill those innocent creatures as much as making it no longer a necessity.
ó Joanne Bryla, D.V.M.
China Grove
Cleaning out the closets
Faithful Friends Animal Sanctuary raised a whopping $10,000 at last weekend’s Pick of the Litter Yard Sale! Grateful thanks go to a community that cleaned out its closets for us, St. John’s Lutheran’s Church and facility manager Oscho Rufty, to sponsors Antiquarius, American Express, Oliver Scott, Food Lion and Harris Teeter. Co-chairs Mary Padavick and Peter Reinemann went way above the call of duty, as did volunteer coordinator Linda Shapeligh and her stalwart team (it takes a lot of dedicated volunteers to make $10,000 at a yard sale!). Younger members Annabel, Charlie and Lucy Barr, and Carolyn and Hannah Conway sold pink lemonade for us, and Laura Weber sold her homemade dog biscuits. We were pleased to have the help of Yvonne and Stephan Ton from Duisburg ,Germany, who had seen our Web site and came to help while traveling in the United States.
Some of the donated items will be sold on the new eBay store and at the Christmas Bazaar on Nov. 29 at the F&M Trolley Barn. For details, go to faithfulfriendsnc.org. While you’re there, please use the Animal Rescue Site link vote for us as your favorite shelter. We could win $1,000 if all of you voted every day next week! We are currently No. 4 out of No. 428 in the state.
ó Anne Ingram
Salisbury
Ingram is president of Faithful Friends Animal Sanctuary.