Introspective

The past couple of days have been extremely thought provoking.

With the gas prices hitting home and the fate of our neighborhood school in question, I have thought a lot about community and values.

As a society, we are loosing them.

I have touched on how I feel about the energy sources and the importance of pushing for renewable energy, so I won't go into that any more. Other than saying that we can all send a message to our government by the choices we make. We as consumers are going to have to start demanding environmentally conscious materials before they will be offered.

Community.

Below is a letter that I wrote to the local newspaper concerning the potential closing of our neighborhood schools:

"The August 18th article: “Spare Rountree, School District Panel Suggests” shows the R-12 Long Range Planning Committee does not truly understand the needs of center-city neighborhoods. The committee has backed down from its original recommendation of closing the schools in order to avoid controversy. This does not address the need to maintain and improve center-city schools. It appears that the committee has not considered that many of us who live in center-city have chosen to lead a smart growth lifestyle by living close to work and school. The sprawl-promoting mega-schools are not conducive to the lifestyle choices we have made and want to instill in our children.

The small neighborhood schools do more than provide children a place to receive an education. These schools are the heart of the neighborhoods. They are often what keep the neighborhoods going, and they provide a sense of community. Saving the small schools is not about saving a building or nostalgia. It is about saving our communities. It is about teaching our children that there are more important aspects of life than how much money you make or how big your car and house are. It is about teaching our children to be good neighbors, to respect others, to give.

Closing the neighborhood schools does not enforce these values. It is setting the example that it is acceptable to turn your back on your community for a profit. We have to invest in those things that help enhance our society. Investing in center-city and in the schools in these neighborhoods will enhance our society. These are the areas that maintain our sense of place and define our community, and they are worth maintaining and improving."

With suburban sprawl, the super vehicle, supersize this and supersize that society has lost connectiveness. Whether it is connectiveness with the environment, other humans, the community, it seems to have fallen by the waistside. We have to hang on to those things that keep us connected. Our downtowns, our urban neighborhoods, those area the places that can keep us grounded. Cheaper is not better. Bigger is not better. Some things cannot have a price placed on them.

My neighborhood is a throw back to the 1940's. It is very Norman Rockwellesque. you walk down any street and there are people walking or sitting on their front porch. You wave, say hi, stop and have conversations. You help your neighbors without them requesting it. You have fun. You do not drive miles to get to your home, pull in the garage and shut yourself off from your neighbors. We connect. We know the history of our neighborhood, our city, our neighbors and we are proud to have that knowledge.

We are able to influence the children in our neighborhood. They are able to look to the adults and see them helping others, helping the community, standing up for what we believe is important. They are growing up understanding compassion. How is that going to be taught in the mega school where the child is displaced from the neighborhood he or she lives? Where that child becomes another test score that has to be raised? What happened to educating a child on life? Do they even have good citizenship awards anymore?

These are issues that are bigger than me, bigger than my neighborhood, but they are issues that I believe in.