To the Editor,

There are two proposals to be voted on on May 6 for anyone living in the Tecumseh School District. They pertain to two bond issues for Tecumseh Public Schools. The first supports many badly needed maintenance issues, some of which include 28 year old boilers, bleachers at the middle school, which were installed around 1941, and replacement of the 32 year old roof on the Board of Education.

The second proposal is for improvements, some of which include moving of elementary school offices closer to the entrance of buildings. After unfortunate bomb threats and other acts of violence that have occurred across the country, it has become more prevalent to make all of our schools more safe and secure. With both proposals we are asking voters to approve about a third of what competing schools have passed to improve their schools. I use the word competing because in today’s school of choice world it is necessary to compete with neighboring schools for enrollment. It is important that we maintain enrollment as tax dollars would be lost and what we could offer academically would decline. A large portion of the improvements proposed goes to improving our athletic facilities, which by the way are supremely inferior to just about every school we interact with. If you don’t believe that, please go to any athletic event at any school in our southeast conference. I guarantee that you will feel embarrassed for our community. I have been a realtor in this area since 1989 and I know that a key factor for people relocating to an area when they have children is the schools. I often drive by the schools with prospective buyers in my car, at their request. Good schools with all the amenities we can offer, are important to every member of the community if we want to maintain property values in this great place to raise a family, and bedroom community to Ann Arbor.

I have had the pleasure of discussing these bond issues with many members of the community, and I was surprised to find that many people had the misconception that our taxes would go up by the passage of these two proposals. That is false. We currently pay 7.2 mills in school tax on a residence; and when both proposals pass the millage will still be 7.2. This renews when the current one drops off. We can stay on track with our current budgets and still give our community something that adds value for everyone here.

The second thing that I was surprised by, was when a person told me that we put too much emphasis on athletics. They didn’t feel that it was important to have two softball fields, just because every school that we go to has two, so the JV and Varsity can play at the same time. We can only host JV or Varsity at one time, and waste money bussing one or the other to the school we are playing against to use one of their fields because we don’t have one.

I love this town and I don’t ever want anyone to not be proud they live in Tecumseh. I hear kids, parents, grandparents talk at events and shake their heads, as they compare our facilities to that of other places they’ve seen our kids go.

I know that some people are of the opinion that we put too much emphasis on athletics. They feel it is unimportant in a child’s education. I disagree. It is important that each and every child has the opportunity to be included in something. Whether that’s academics, band, orchestra, choir, sports or whatever. These things are of utmost importance in teaching some life skills.  It gives them social and work skills of working as a team to accomplish common goals. Sports gives the opportunity to win while learning that usually it’s not the team that had the most skill, but the one that plays with the most heart, that wins.

I was blessed enough to be raised by parents that taught me I could accomplish anything if I wanted it bad enough and tried hard enough. Some kids are not as fortunate in their home lives, but they can learn many fundamental foundations for building good character, like teamwork, fitting in socially, self-confidence, and pride form sports and extra curricular activities. My five year old scored the first soccer goal on his team last year. Immediately following the ball entering the net he turned to me and yelled with a huge smile on his face “Did I do good Mommy?” I said, “Honey, you were awesome.” I often wonder how long that will stay with him. Not the soccer goal, but the confidence he instilled when he worked hard, and succeeded at something.

Each of us has been granted certain innate abilities, and some people just seem to be gifted academically where it comes naturally and easily for them. Some people can run like the wind, sing like a bird, play an instrument and draw tears to your eyes and others can throw a football like there is no tomorrow. Can’t we as voters do our part, to give our kids and future community every opportunity to be successful proud individuals?
I love sports. Don’t get me wrong, education is foremost, but I feel that the extra curricular activities also play an important part in creating that happy, successful whole.
Don’t we all want that for our kids, grandkids, neighbor’s kids and future neighbors in our community?  

I ask voters to stand behind both proposals with yes votes. Let’s continue to produce happy, successful graduates filled with self-pride and keep Tecumseh a place we can be proud to call home.

Wendy Hella
Raisin Township