During any incident of vandalism or damage to schools, the first thing to come out is the "bad" results of the incident, and the inevitable linking of all students or adults with those who committed the act. During our recent vandalism to the Library Media Center (LMC) at Monroe High School, that is the first thing that came to light; the damage and senselessness of such an act.
It is our intent with this letter to help bring to light the other side of Monroe High School and the Monroe school district in general. Too many times, only the bad side of today's youth is seen. There is a much brighter, "good" side that came out on Friday at Monroe High School.
Once the police had given us the all clear to begin cleaning up the vandalism, we were inundated with offers from students to help clean, restore order, shelve books, etc. All without any prompting from the adults coordinating the cleanup efforts. Many students spent multiple hours in the LMC giving up release hours, study halls and, yes, many even skipping their lunch hour in order to return the MHS LMC to its original state. There were so many students willing to help that we actually had to say no to some of them, as we were out of room. Many students felt bad that they could not stay into the next hour to complete the task they had been working on for the previous hour. Their behavior was impeccable, their spirit intact. Since words truly cannot express how tremendous they were, perhaps a number can. The students totaled more than 325 hours of volunteering in the LMC in one school day!
The second group of people that rarely gets the credit they should is the staff. Many of the superlative descriptionss used in the previous paragraph pertain to the staff at MHS, as well. Many teachers gave up their lunch or preparation hours to help in the same manner the students did. Many teachers asked if we were going to continue after school so that they may be able to continue to contribute. (As a side note, the students worked so hard that staying after school was not deemed necessary.) Staff members assisted in any way possible. There was no job "too hard" or "too menial."
A special thank you also goes out to Joyce Martin and Mary Friedrichs for coordinating the efforts all day Friday and for the LMC staff from other buildings that came to help put the High School library back together.
While we can assure you that everything is being done to catch whomever committed this act, we can not guarantee that they will be apprehended. However, we can guarantee you that as a citizen of Monroe you have every reason to be proud of the student body and the staff at MHS. All of those who helped have our deepest and most sincere thank you.
- Mark Burandt is principal of Monroe High School. Jennifer Thayer is the district's director of curriculum and instruction.
It is our intent with this letter to help bring to light the other side of Monroe High School and the Monroe school district in general. Too many times, only the bad side of today's youth is seen. There is a much brighter, "good" side that came out on Friday at Monroe High School.
Once the police had given us the all clear to begin cleaning up the vandalism, we were inundated with offers from students to help clean, restore order, shelve books, etc. All without any prompting from the adults coordinating the cleanup efforts. Many students spent multiple hours in the LMC giving up release hours, study halls and, yes, many even skipping their lunch hour in order to return the MHS LMC to its original state. There were so many students willing to help that we actually had to say no to some of them, as we were out of room. Many students felt bad that they could not stay into the next hour to complete the task they had been working on for the previous hour. Their behavior was impeccable, their spirit intact. Since words truly cannot express how tremendous they were, perhaps a number can. The students totaled more than 325 hours of volunteering in the LMC in one school day!
The second group of people that rarely gets the credit they should is the staff. Many of the superlative descriptionss used in the previous paragraph pertain to the staff at MHS, as well. Many teachers gave up their lunch or preparation hours to help in the same manner the students did. Many teachers asked if we were going to continue after school so that they may be able to continue to contribute. (As a side note, the students worked so hard that staying after school was not deemed necessary.) Staff members assisted in any way possible. There was no job "too hard" or "too menial."
A special thank you also goes out to Joyce Martin and Mary Friedrichs for coordinating the efforts all day Friday and for the LMC staff from other buildings that came to help put the High School library back together.
While we can assure you that everything is being done to catch whomever committed this act, we can not guarantee that they will be apprehended. However, we can guarantee you that as a citizen of Monroe you have every reason to be proud of the student body and the staff at MHS. All of those who helped have our deepest and most sincere thank you.
- Mark Burandt is principal of Monroe High School. Jennifer Thayer is the district's director of curriculum and instruction.
