From: Mickey Kim
Columbus
The Bartholomew County School Corporation (BCSC) is critically important to our community. BCSC schools are where most of our youngsters get their K-12 education and a key factor in attracting potential employees to our community in a highly competitive market.
All three of our daughters graduated from Columbus North High School. Our oldest daughter, Betsy, is a public high school English teacher in New York City. Our youngest daughter, Emily, is a public middle school counselor in Cincinnati.
Both are passionate educators fighting the “good fight” every day. They do it because they love their students and in spite of meager pay and constant threat of physical harm. Our family is clearly “all in” on the importance of public school education.
The BCSC Board needs serious people who have clear competencies to assist and guide our administration – executive decision making, knowledge of education, a history of service to our community and perhaps most importantly, the willingness to listen to differing viewpoints and ability to keep a level head.
I have known Whittney Loyd for more than a decade though her work with Turning Point Domestic Violence Services and the United Way of Bartholomew County.
Most people know Turning Point as a shelter for victims of domestic violence. Every day, Whittney and her colleagues help families in crisis survive the worst times in their lives. Turning Point also provides outreach to prevent domestic violence. Whittney’s leadership on educating young people about healthy relationships through Dance Marathon, After Prom and training workshops will help stem the scourge of domestic violence here.
One of Whittney’s greatest strengths is the ability to listen with empathy and design and implement a plan when people with nowhere else to turn are facing a life-threatening crisis. This is also the approach shared by two other BCSC Board candidates who align with her on all the significant issues in the upcoming election, incumbent Board Chair Nicole Wheeldon (plant manager for Cummins in Walesboro) and Leigh Britt (a long-standing educator).
Whittney, Nicole and Leigh are serious, high-integrity folks who will bring a calm, professional, thoughtful and balanced approach to moving BCSC forward to face the challenges of today and tomorrow. Just as important, they will be great role models for our kids (particularly in this sad age of disrespectful trolling/bashing on social media) that folks with differing opinions or viewpoints can and should engage in civil discourse and treat each other with respect.
With the leadership and guidance of a capable and serious board, BCSC can focus on its most important opportunities and challenges: student and teacher safety, stewarding taxpayer funds, executing a successful facilities program and, most importantly, attracting and retaining the lifeblood of any school corporation – outstanding and committed educators.
I encourage you to get the facts, get involved and ensure we support BCSC, our students, our teachers and administration to provide the best education possible. I believe a vote for Whittney Loyd, Nicole Wheeldon and Leigh Britt puts us on that course.
Editor’s note: This letter is paid political content. Political endorsement letters are published with a $25 fee. They may be submitted to [email protected].
