Letters to the Editor 06/06/2012

To the Editor:

Friday June 1, 2012 at 9 a.m. was an extremely sad end to a long arduous journey through the Sisters public school system.

A beautiful, unique human being, finished his work Thursday, but was ultimately turned away. Thirteen long years lost on troubled times.

A desk and four walls do not fill the need of certain children that require experiential learning environments to thrive. The child begins to interpret their uniqueness and creativity in a negative way, as a flaw of character. This can translate to behavioral issues, judgments, and an endless cycle of anguish and hard work, for student, parents, and teachers.

My advice to parents of young children, if you place your child in the public school system and it makes them unhappy past a short adjustment period. Then get out, do anything it takes to protect your child from the pain and disappointment of not effectively acclimating to this type of environment. Move if you can, try homeschooling, or find another alternative learning environments for this precious person.

I am extremely disheartened with the new principal and the superintendent for not helping us, when we really needed you to! I do not feel my message was heard, I feel I was interpreted as a bother. A rite of passage is gone, and we could have really used this opportunity to feel joy concerning this small community and the school district.

If the administrators get a chance to help a family in need, then do the right thing, when asked and challenged to do so. Great leaders help the people that need them, so problems can be resolved.

I will close with this statement from a close associate of mine, "Sisters High school is a good school if you are a 'good' kid."

Amy Berg

s s s

To the Editor:

The writer of the letter in last week's Nugget Newspaper promoting the "backward parking" planned for Main Avenue stated that he excused himself as a resident of the city from any voting by the Oregon Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee to present the grant for the project to the City of

Sisters.

How ironic is that. The business owners, property owners, city residents, and those of us living outside of the city that depend on these businesses for services didn't even have the opportunity to vote.

The decision was made with no public comment period and contrary to some statements, no businesses were informed of the decision until it was over and done.

The statement also was made that the grant was made on the merits of the entire project and not just for the "backward parking." Most comments I have heard was that the grant was accepted for the money.

Jim Fisher

s s s

To the Editor:

Creating a multipurpose trail between Sisters and Black Butte Ranch makes good sense. Sisters and Central Oregon are becoming known as biking destinations. A large part of our local economy depends on tourism. Lucky us, we have three scenic bikeways in our area. This is out of a total of nine for the state. We have a well-developed hiking/mountain biking system.

What we need in addition are some bikeways that are safe, scenic and family oriented. When I take my young grandchildren for a bike ride, I am not going to take them along Highway 20 and 126, which do have bike lanes. The amount of traffic makes this riding an unpleasant and not a terribly safe experience.

Our side roads while less trafficked rarely have a bike lane. I would love to have a paved path that goes through the National Forest where it is quiet, beautiful and mostly importantly, safe for young children. Such a path also would be desirable for joggers and parents with children in strollers. Let us not forget that there are many elderly persons who would welcome walking on a smooth surface. We need another alternative to our existing trail system.

Ken Serkownek

s s s

To the Editor:

My name is Mary Mathison. I have lived in Sisters for 23 years, and have found some of the most caring, generous people anywhere. Because of that, I felt inclined to write this letter on behalf of a young family I

know.

We have a family in our community who is homeless. They live in a tent, in the woods. They both work seven nights a week delivering newspapers in Bend. He was working as a laborer in construction until last January, but when that job ended, they found they could no longer manage the rent they were paying. Their 10-year-old child attends a Sisters school, after sleeping in the car while they deliver their routes.

This young couple does not fit the stereotype of the homeless. They do not beg. They do not drink, or do drugs. They are not mentally ill.

I offer what help I can. Provide showers, and a place to get fresh water, a place to store their belongings, and a mailing address, but my ability to help fails woefully short of meeting their needs. I am petitioning anyone in the community who has a rental home for a family on a tight budget, or an employment opportunity for a hard-working, reliable person, please contact me.

Failing that, there are other things they could use to make their camping life more manageable: a propane stove, flatware, cookware, portable shower, port-a-potty, propane heater, a new chain for a chain saw.

Thank you for reading. I can be contacted at: Mary Mathison, P.O. Box 1295, Sisters, OR 97759.

Mary Mathison