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June 1,
2006
The 2005-2006 school year is now complete with the graduation of 86 seniors from Watertown High School. This is one of the largest, if not the largest, graduating classes in the school’s history. The future looks bright as 86 kindergarten students graduated to the first grade on May 22.
This article is going to be a little different from those I have done in the past. There have been a great number of developments with our schools during the past year. Discussions have been held concerning the need for a new Watertown High School, the need for a new Jr. High School, the funding and beginning of construction of a new PreK-3 Elementary School, the need for a new gymnasium at that location, the allocation of county dollars to assist the city in building new baseball and softball fields, and the allocation of county dollars for the soon-to-be completed purchase of property on West Main Street across from Watertown High School.
One point of full disclosure before I go any further. I am a graduate of Watertown High School. My wife is a graduate of Watertown High School. My mother and father, three brothers, a sister and my oldest son are Watertown High graduates. I hope my two younger sons will be graduates of WHS. My uncle was principal of Watertown High School for many years and one of my best friends is currently the principal. I believe in our schools. I am proud of our schools. I want our schools to be the best they can be.
Some other things I want to be unmistakably clear about with regard to our schools. First, Watertown schools belong in Watertown. Second, our schools should have the same course offerings as any other school in this county. The recent news of 18 new class offerings for our school is a positive sign. Third, we deserve the same facilities as everyone else in the county, both academic and athletic. And fourth, our administration, support staff and teachers deserve the full respect, support and cooperation of this community and its citizens. Overall, they do a terrific job, and I want to thank and congratulate them all, from kindergarten to high school.
What is my point in making these comments? There are a great many people in our community and surrounding area who share the same view of our schools. They also want everything possible for our children, as do our administration, support staff and teachers. But some, in an effort to help our schools, have chosen to make that effort by being negative toward our existing curriculum, teachers, administrators and facilities. Our students are competing globally and competing quite well. They do well in all aspects of life. The history of our schools is replete with individuals who have accomplished great things and reached positions of great importance, including higher education. I believe we should continue to stress that we want our schools to be better, but do so in a positive way. Let’s emphasize how well our students are doing with the administration, teachers, staff and facilities that we have available, and how much better we can do with better facilities, and more teachers and support staff.
Thirty-two of our graduating seniors are going to receive some form of scholarship. These scholarships vary across the board in amount, purpose and location, but cumulatively I am advised they potentially will reach the one-half million dollar figure. That is a great testimony to the job the educational system in Watertown is doing. I try to be a positive person, and I believe in emphasizing positive things. We need to help our administration, teachers and support staff get out the word of the values and benefits of a Watertown education.
Some have criticized our schools because of their size. I do not believe our size is a detriment but rather a benefit. Our students receive more individual training, not unlike what many private schools are preaching as to why you should choose a private school. There are many reasons we live in Watertown, but one of those is clearly the value of a small school education. If we wanted our children to be in schools of 1,500 to 2,000 population, we would move to that school zone.
In summary, I would offer the following. We are getting a good educational product in our Watertown schools. Can it be better? Yes, things can always be better. Can we emphasize the positive and help things to continually improve? Yes, I believe that is the way to help our schools. Negativism does not help anything.
One thing I need to clarify from a previous article. I was bragging on the ability of our Park Board, City Council and dedicated volunteers to offer the number of recreational services that we do at no charge to the participants. There is one exception. For those who play Jr. Pro Football, and participate as cheerleaders, a small fee is assessed to offset the much higher cost of equipment. I wish that it did not have to be so, but to keep those programs financially afloat with no tax dollars being spent, it is a necessity.
In other areas of concern to our community, this past Sunday, we were the recipients of a very heavy rain in a short period of time. Because of that, we experienced temporary flooding in many areas, including Richland, Statesville and Commerce avenues. I received calls from many of you concerned about the flooding. Sometimes Mother Nature hands us more than we are physically prepared to deal with. A great deal of that flooding could not be helped because of the large volume of water that was given to us in such a short period of time. But, I have instructed our city employees to take a look at the affected areas and do whatever we can in an attempt to alleviate these problems in the future. We will do the best we can, and you may see us doing some additional ditching and drain work in certain areas. We will try to be as unobtrusive as possible, while trying to take those actions that benefit the most citizens.
Thank you again for the opportunity to serve as your mayor. I look forward to continuing to work with the City Council and Chamber of Commerce to present a positive image of our community and hopefully make improvements for which we can all be proud. As always, if you have questions, comments or suggestions, please let me or any member of the City Council know.
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