There has been a great deal written about the pros and cons of keeping Ripton Elementary School open; and, with the best of intentions, most of the positions have been built upon facts and figures dealing with populations, resources and money.
While our community does its best to logically allocate available funds, there are times we need to step out from the shade of pure reason’s umbrella and allow the heat of emotion to touch us. In the Thai language, when you want someone to calm down you tell them to “chill their heart.” Well, I don’t think we should be calm at the prospect of having our local school closed. I don’t think we should chill our hearts and allow logistics alone to guide our children’s educational future.
I believe we should appear en masse at every meeting to show we are, in fact, responding from our hearts (as well as our minds). We have every right to be emotional because our school is the beating heart of Ripton and when our children attend classes we want them to associate what they learn within the nurturing spirit of their own neighborhood.
Burgess Needle
Ripton