Letters to the Editor for Feb. 2, 2017

Camas levy is a small price to pay

My name is Madison Kemp. I am a sophomore at Camas High School and proud member of this year’s Class 4A State Champion Camas Papermaker girls soccer team. Our team finished with a MaxPreps: No. 1 State/No. 1 National and NSCAA/USA Today: No. 2 Region/No. 13 National ranking! I was also blessed to lead our team with a new school record 31 goals and was named the Washington State Player of the Year as well as an NSCAA All-American. All of this success is a direct reflection of the support of my parents, coaches, school administrators and most importantly you – my community.

I have been a Camas student since kindergarten. I feel like I’ve grown up with my town. I have seen old paint become new and bright, gravel become sidewalks, and dirt fields become bustling neighborhoods and a new high school. I see the growth around me and can’t help but feel a different sense of community and school pride then what some other kids may feel living in different areas.

I know that I have been blessed with some of the very best teachers and coaches in the area. I know that I am lucky that my parents chose Camas to raise me and my brother. I have been given all of the tools along the way to become the person I am right now. I have you to thank for that – you my Camas community.

On Feb. 14, I, along with thousands of other “DifferenceMakers” in your local schools, ask for your continued support by helping us vote for two important replacement levies. These levies go a long way in providing the kind of support we need to continue to excel in the classroom, sports fields, arts, music, technology, debate and mathematics. These levies will also help maintain our safety at school as well as continue to improve the world class facilities we are blessed to go to school in.

Please vote to approve replacement levies in the Feb. 14, special election. This request is literally pennies for each $1,000 of your assessed property value. It’s such a small price to pay for keeping our community on top. Please remember to vote “yes,” Camas!

Madison Kemp, Camas

Washougal levies enhance the student experience

I am a parent and a supporter of Washougal schools. I would like to ask everyone in our community to support our schools and vote “yes” on Feb. 14.

As the chairman of the Vote Yes Committee, asking you to vote “yes” for Washougal Schools is my job. However, I am more than just the chairman of the Vote Yes Committee. I believe in our kids and I have an expectation of what the student experience should look like for all kids, not just mine.

At some point in life, everyone reading this was a student. I believe that all of us have an expectation of what the student experience should be.

Beyond the classroom that experience includes nurses, counselors, P.E. teachers and librarians. It includes activities like drama, art, music and athletics. For me, the complete student experience includes all of those things and more. Those are some of the things we came to expect, or maybe even took for granted, when we were students.

My dad was a teacher and coach for 37 years. During his years as an educator and coach, he influenced generations of students and athletes. One of those students is now the superintendent of Washougal schools. In turn, Dr. Mike Stromme has influenced many students and athletes, and one of those students was me. I can’t imagine how my student experience would have been different, even incomplete, without my teachers and the activities I participated in.

I believe my kids, your kids, and the kids who enter our schools in the future, deserve the same student experience we all had and we all have come to expect. To ensure this happens, we must approve the Washougal School District replacement levies on Feb. 14. Please vote “yes.”

Mike Sprinkle, Washougal Citizens for Schools Committee Chairman

Continue to invest in school district, youth

The Camas School District has replacement levies on the Feb. 14 ballot this year. I am asking for your support of these levies. The proposed levies cover maintenance, operations and technology. These levies are replacements for the existing levies that are about to expire.

Public education funding in Washington state relies heavily on local taxes. Approving these levies continues the local funding previous levies have provided.

These levies typically fund about 20 percent of the total education costs. Part of the benefit of these levies include: smaller class sizes, textbooks and curriculum materials, security staff and resource officer, health room staff and programs, Advanced Placement, HiCap and accelerated programs, special education staff and materials, all extracurricular activities, library staff and materials, technology support staff, professional development and much more.

For those of us who have been blessed to live in this community and reap the benefits of our outstanding school system, it is a chance for us to help future students and families realize the benefits of one of the best school districts in the state. To those who are relatively new, this is an opportunity to invest in a community that has a rich history of providing a great education to all of the youth in our community. Please join me in supporting these levies. It is one of the best investments you will ever make.

Steve Hogan, Camas