Letter to the Editor

We can do better

Friday, January 28, 2011

To the editor:

I received many encouraging letters and phone calls after my presentation at the Rotary Club and your article of Jan. 21, 2011. Thank you all.

My concerns are better expressed by our children. Among them, Shandrea Middlebrook, who in 2000 won the first prize in the fourth-grade essay competition. She wrote, "George Washington was the first president. He always believed God should have been in everything. George loved to learn new things every day. He was very polite and had good manners. He taught himself many new things. George Washington was a very hard worker who loved his family and home. People called him 'the father of American Farming' because of his good farming skills. He was friendly and didn't curse. I want to stand up for what is right and work hard in school as he did. I love learning about new things every day. I will always follow the Golden Rule so I can make many new friends. George Washington is an American hero in my life."

I appreciate the more than one decade of support from the community, civic organizations, companies and individuals. We can do better than being No. 14 in reading, 25th in math and 17th in sciences. It may help our educators if we grade, praise and recognize our children for their civil behavior. Teachers with one hand may hold a book, a pencil or chalk, and surely with the other hand they charge our future and write our history. Let us all individually and collectively help and support them.

If you have any questions or wish to help with this project, please send me an e-mail at titojump@yahoo.com.

S. Shahriari, PhD, MD
Blytheville