We are writing in response to Jim Kenyon’s two recent columns about how Strafford funds its school choices. A reader might be misled into thinking that the only reason Strafford residents choose their town-designated high school, Thetford Academy, over Hanover High (called an “elite school” in the column) is an inability to pay the additional cost.
We appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight. While few would dispute that Hanover High offers a high-quality public school education, there are many reasons why families around the Upper Valley and from abroad choose the small independent school that is Thetford Academy. Your readers may be surprised to learn that 45 percent of TA’s high school students are not from Thetford. They hail from a dozen different New Hampshire and Vermont towns and even from foreign countries (almost 8 percent of the non-Thetford students in the high school are international, and that number is expected to grow).
It is true that TA students from Strafford and similar places have their tuition paid by their sending town. However, there are families from other places — towns with their own high schools like Hanover/Norwich or foreign countries — who deliberately choose to pay the independent school tuition in order to give their children a TA education.
As Strafford and Hanover residents, we opted to send our college-bound children to TA because we wanted them to be part of an inclusive school community that intentionally chooses to serve students from a variety of backgrounds and with a wide range of future goals. The school is firmly committed to its mission: “to celebrate the worth of all students, to nurture their strengths, and to challenge them to fulfill their potential.” Thanks to its small size, TA’s teachers can know and support each student, and each TA student can play a meaningful role in the school community.
Thetford Academy and Hanover High are both excellent, but very different, schools. Those who are able to choose between the two are fortunate to have both of these options.
Therese Linehan Strafford
Lindsey Klecan Hanover
The writers are trustees of Thetford Academy.
“I think what I’m most proud of is the incalculable number of lives that the CCBA has touched while I’ve been here. It’s always been a safe, effective, clean, approachable place for people to exercise.” I cannot agree more with Curtis Richardson’s quote in the July 12 article, “CCBA Executive Director Signals Resignation.”
Hearing the news of his resignation causes me to reflect. Just the other day I was on a machine in the cardio room facing the mirror. I saw the stairwell reflected in the mirror behind me. This reminded me of a day 14 years ago. Twenty minutes into my workout, I heard a child’s impatient cry from the lower level. My attention was raised. Nevertheless, I continued on. Then, I see Curtis carrying my 6-month-old up the stairs and instead of coming to find me, he forged on to the third floor. It was quite a sight but not out of the ordinary. Come to find out, a caregiver in the Child Care Center said to him, “Here, take Tommy on a walk. He is having a tough time today.” Without skipping a beat, Curtis whisked him upstairs and probably transferred my fussy child over to a staff member who sometimes pushed Tommy in the stroller behind the front desk or up and down the ramps.
At the time, I was a stay-at-home mom and the CCBA provided freedom to me and dozens of parents every day, if just for an hour! Curtis understood a parent’s need to exercise, as did many other wonderful employees.
My kids are now 14 and 15. The CCBA has been a part of their lives every season, every year. On that day long ago, I was truly touched by Curtis’ willingness to switch gears and bound up three flights of stairs with my crying child. I thank you and your whole staff for touching my life and for your 26 years of service!
Elisabeth Berthasavage Lebanon
This past weekend, the Rusty Berrings Skatepark held a grand opening with several hundred people of all ages, many of whom traveled great distances, turning out to check out the recently completed first phase of the new concrete ramps and features. We want to thank Valley News staff writer Matt Hongoltz-Hetling and photographer Geoff Hansen for their excellent story in the Sunday Valley News.
In November of last year, we lost our son Tyler; in his honor, we are dedicating our time and personal resources to the creation of a living memorial that remembers the best of our son’s life. The revitalization of the Rusty Berrings Skate Park will serve as a lasting gift to the community that supported him through his struggles with mental illness.
Under the nickname “Rusty Berrings,” Tyler was an avid skateboarder who always felt at home in the Lebanon skate park; he shared his inventive skills to keep others rolling. Acting in the spirit of generosity that defined him, he gave freely of himself to others.
In partnership with the Lebanon Recreation and Parks Department and the Friends of Lebanon Recreation and Parks, we have begun an ambitious effort to complete improvements to the skate park. It was renamed the Rusty Berrings Skate Park at Riverside Community Park by the City Council in a unanimous vote May 18 as a memorial tribute to our son.
With the help of our community, we hope to see the revitalized skate park become a resource for other young lives. Please join us in building safer and more permanent ramps for a skate park that serves young people from across the Upper Valley and beyond. We have already raised more than $80,000 toward our goal of $280,000 to complete the project, which we hope will occur by October 2017. Please plan a visit to the park on Glen Road in West Lebanon. We cannot complete this work alone.
Buddy and Ginny Kirschner Norwich
I am fed up with the media assumption that every ridiculous thing Donald Trump says is newsworthy. Trump saying that President Obama was born in the United States is hardly a newsworthy item anywhere in a newspaper. To make a headline out of it just adds to the crazy circus atmosphere that Trump has put out there to avoid talking about the real issues facing our country, and what he plans to do about them. This is really poor journalism, and we deserve better.
Brian AllenSouth Pomfret
Donald Trump has made a fortune owning casinos. There are two very important things to remember about gambling. First, the games are set up so that a very few people win big, but the biggest winner of all is the house, while the vast majority are left with nothing, worse off than they were before. And second, never gamble what you cannot afford to lose.
We live in a time of great disruption. Will we succumb to fear and act out of anger or will we respond with curiosity, courage and compassion working together to craft a world where we all win? As Benjamin Franklin said, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” Our future hangs in the balance. We are truly “Better together.”
Jane MastersHanover
I would suggest that you look carefully at the photo on Page A2 of the Sept. 23 Valley News, “Got Milk?” and in the future label photos correctly.
You must have grown up in the city because you sure didn’t grow up on a farm.
Those “cows” are bulls — take a close look at them, and the rings in their noses which are used when necessary to control them.
Lorraine Zigman Perkinsville
Editor’s Note: The Associated Press, the source of the photo, defends the use of cow as a generic term, with the backing of Webster’s New World College Dictionary, which allows the usage in its third definition for cow, citing its use in the West. We, however, agree with the letter writer that the caption steered readers wrong.