I have noticed a lot of negative comments here on the blog. It needs to stop! This is not what we are about. This blog is to keep everyone informed about what is going on here in our community. We are here to get the name of our high school changed and we need to do that as a community. This negativity is not what we are about and it needs to stop.
Several people are helping in the cause whether it be there time or money. I am sure we don't know what everyone is doing but we need to support each other.
Remember this has nothing to do with anyone except the Colton School Board they are the ones that choose the name. Not anyone else so please keep that in mind.
When I started this blog I only meant for it to keep people involved and to let people know what was happening with upcoming dates. I really do appreciate your comments but we need to stop going after each other.
Remember what we are here for!
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11 comments:
Thank you for clarifying what this blog was intended for..
Wendy
Wow - I just got turned on to the blog tonight! There is a lot to comment on, here are my two cents:
1. Colton residents - stand up and be counted! This is just as much your fight as those in GT. The school board of CJUSD is out of control. We must stand united and stand against obvious disregard of the voters' wishes. Believe me, school board members COUNT on you remaining silent - most believe they are smarter and wiser than you!
2. Opting out of STAR testing is a SMART way of getting attention. It is absolutely true that if the District does not make the target at EVERY site, there will be a penalty. One would think that ANY penalty after 6 years in PI would be taken VERY seriously! Remember folks - if we fail to get out of PI, a remedy (or sanction) is that the school board will be removed as well as perhaps the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendents. GRAND TERRACE & COMMUNITY TEST SCORES FLOAT OUR DISTRICT! EVERY Principal in the District will try to persuade you to change your mind and threaten you with things that DO NOT matter in the long run of your child's education. Your student's test scores do not reflect many things about your children that will determine who and what they will grow up to be. Be brave and follow this line of thinking.
3. Employees of the CJUSD may be timid or outright afraid to join this fight. Their teaching lives are being shaken on a daily basis with directives and "visits" by District teams and DAIT - which to my knowledge do not revolve around what students are doing or learning in the classroom. Residents of the District, the CJUSD continues to spend money on companies, people, and programs - MONEY WE DO NOT HAVE. Ask where the money is being spent, and more importantly ask WHY it is being spent. Make your representatives justify why they do what they do, until you are satisfied that they are making the best decisions for all of us.
4. GT and all - be serious about this movement. I can't all be about the name of the high school. The name of your school is an impetus for outrage, but our school district has discounted the value and worth of the residents (and its educators) for decades. There was one blogger who asked how many of us serve on PTA's. It's a good question - but combative, I think. Look - people in education all act like they know what is best. But what IS best is that all of us take our part, share our knowledge, to do whatever we can to make our community reflect our values and wishes for the future. When we say it's all about the kids, we had better mean it. It's a tall order, but we can make it happen.
Keep on GT and the residents of CJUSD! Don't forget who is supposed to serve whom. No matter how this round ends, stay in the fight until our school board reflects the wishes of our community, serves US, and more importantly, our children.
I heard about this blog and your involvement as part of the community that was outraged over the naming of the new high school. I felt my family and I could be part of a group of concerned people to make a positive change on the issue. My family and I were very excited to become involved with your organization. Over the past week I read through your posted comments and letters from the local newspaper and looked over the strategy of your group. I’m compelled to share my observations for the benefit of your group, not to be taken negatively. If your belief in standing on corners protesting with signs and collecting signatures at the local businesses to change the name of the high school will in fact change the name of a high school, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. These attempts won’t resolve the issue behind the high school name. Your approach is throwing paper at a decision that was already set in stone.
Much to my concern, what I have discovered in my review of this blog is the unfriendliness from some of your bloggers, especially toward one individual that continued to provide clarity in dealing and resolving the real issue behind the naming of the high school. The points made were of interest and appeared to be on target. Furthermore, I find it to be quite appalling when reading a recent blog post that calls for the censoring of issues beyond the topic of the school board naming the school. It’s extremely narrow minded to believe that our Mayor and City Council weren’t involved in the subject of naming the high school, directly or indirectly. It is with much disappointment and for the described reasons, that my family and I won’t support your current efforts in dealing with this matter. I personally intend to look into this issue but using alternate avenues rather than in support of your group.
Sadly,
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Salietroe and family
Grand Terrace residents
MR SALITROE... APPARENTLY YOU DO NOT KNOW THE MAKEUP AND PECKING ORDER OF THE BOARD. IF YOU DID YOU WOULD NOT QUESTION WHETHER OR NOT OUR GRAND TERRACE LEADERS HAD ANY INFLUENCE WHATSOEVER WITH A NAME FOR GRAND TERRACE'S NEW SCHOOL.I AM 100% POSITIVE THEY DID NOT. HAS ANYONE EVER WONDERED WHY A NAME WASN'T RELEASED BY THE BOARD UNTIL AFTER THE RECENT BOND MEASURE PASSED?
Say Ed,
Do you realize that you’re yelling at this guy when you TYPE IN ALL CAPS?
Besides I doubt if he returns to read any more comments.
But your point of a name not being released by the board until after the recent bond measure passed doesn’t explain away the possibility of the boards or Kent Taylor’s dubious involvement of a deal.
I certainly don’t trust government 100 percent I don’t know why you would...
Jason Mithnel
Thank you to all of you who come with differing perspectives and point of views. By unifying and putting them all together around a central issue, such as the renaming of GTHS, we could move forward. What you put in words in a letter or on a Blog, should match what you would tell someone in person.
I appreciate all the input and how someone has declined to stay connected to one of groups dedicated to getting the high school's name changed. It will help me in the future to remember when working with others that we all come with different experiences in our past that filter how we view things.
That is what makes our country great. That's why we are able to protest about this issue in the first place. Keep up the good work all of you, working behind the scenes or out in the open, to fight for what you believe is an injustice by the CJUSD school board and the naming of the new high school.
"History doesn't repeat itself, people repeat History." (unknown source) Let's change history.
Brenda B
GT
If there is a so-called “pecking order” on the school board, then Board member Kent Taylor (Grand Terrace Ward) most certainly did bark on command when he second the motion on naming the Grand Terrace High School after Abril.
But I guess we’re more concerned about the name of a high school rather than holding the man accountable for betraying us. To quote George Bernard Shaw, “We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future”.
Katie Greene
I am not one for censorship, at all.
I agree with all comments on this thread.
Mr. Salitroe and his family made a valid and concise statement. It may not be the common opinion... but he did sign his name to the post, he did make his voice heard, and I for one... want to hear all sides of a debate... not just one.
This fight may be with CJUSD, but there were many, many, many players in this debacle. Not just the 9 members of the school board.
I wish Mr. Salitroe and his family well, and hope they can do whatever they can to help fix this problem.
That's what I got from his respectful comment.
Brenda B... beautifully written...
The fact that this is becoming so heated... is actually a good thing.
It needs to get a little uncomfortable, so see the passion behind the cause.
We really need to be able to hear the negative comments and be able to deal with them in a manner befitting Americans... without censorship. We can't only want to hear one side...
Just my 2 cents.
What is all the obsession over someone signing anonymously?
What makes one opinion more valid than the next?
Why is this even being commented on?
Let’s see. I’ll sign my comment with anonymous.
Signed,
anonymous
Now does everyone feel better? ...I know I do.
Promote the High School Name Change...?
NO ACCOUNTABILITY (of those who got us here) --- NO PARTICIPATION (in the wasting of my time and resources)
Our community of Grand Terrace CANNOT reward Kent Taylor by continue in representing us because of HIS VOTE to name the high school Abril and his shocking disrespect toward us by seconding the motion.
NO ACCOUNTABILITY (of those who got us here) --- NO PARTICIPATION (in the wasting of my time and resources)
Practical Solutions:
1) Boycott STAR Testing 2008/2009
2) Recall Kent Taylor
3) Investigate the Mayor’s Participation
4) Investigate the Grand Terrace City Council
5) Investigate the CJUSD School Board, especially their spending and money allocation
NO ACCOUNTABILITY (of those who got us here) --- NO PARTICIPATION (in the wasting of my time)
That’s right, I’ll say it again. NO ACCOUNTABILITY (of those who got us here) --- NO PARTICIPATION (in the wasting of my time)
Sarah Jackson
Grand Terrace
Thank you everyone who is doing a part. You do yourself proud and set an example of our rights in this country. It took a small group of women to start the suffrage movement. I'm sure they didn't see all eye to eye. Why would we expect any different?
Thanks again for everyone's help, assistance, and positive remarks!
Brenda B.
GT
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