- Unifying Our Schools : One Identity
- Our Children’s Glastonbury Education
- Why We Are Running
- Get to Know Me
- Vote for Stephen and Jenn
Unifying Our Schools : One Identity
| First, I want to acknowledge how volatile a topic this has been in Glastonbury for the past few years, since the removal of a longstanding GHS symbol. This is not a position on that topic, as my reasoning for this goes back long before this change, and i’m not advocating for or against the past or current symbols; rather this is about moving forward and making GPS as strong and unified as possible for everyone. So, please, no matter your opinion, please bear with me. Imagine for a moment that you are a parent finally sending your oldest child to kindergarden. Brand new backpack strapped to the back, nametag affixed to the strap, and your little one is taking the first step onto that huge yellow bus. As that tiny shoe lands on the squishy rubber step, the new GPS student looks at you one last time with a huge grin ear to ear and says “I’m finally a Little Guardian”. Wow, what a moment that would be. Unfortunately, for all of us, this moment never happened. GPS elementary school kids don’t dream of being Guardians, nor dany other symbol for that matter. Neither do our middle schoolers. That’s because Glastonbury, like many other towns, enjoys the uniqueness and individually of each school within the district and prefers having different mascots for each school. But what if we chose differently? What if we could have a sense of identify and unity? Why do I bring this up? Unlike our current BOE majority, I do care about why some of our talented students and athletes are leaving GPS for private schools. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to many of the parents who have made the difficult decision, and one of the themes I heard was that their child had a lack of belonging to the high school and Glastonbury schools as a whole. So, I ask, what if we could build a community under one themed symbol? What if Glastonbury, no matter the age, has brand recognition? What if the current generation could start a new tradition, new legacy of community unity? Could that unity have recognition for the past as well? Sure, let’s include a tribute to our heritage in the symbol, why not? If we are all rowing to in the same direction, we, Glastonbury can be unstoppable. So, shameless plug … Vote for Stephen Michael for the Board of Education and all of Line B in November and let us craft the pathway to unity, community. and belonging for all our kids. |
Our Children’s Glastonbury Education
| In a draft letter to The Citizen the GPS superintendent seems hell bent on publicly shaming anyone who doesn’t disagree with his views. I wonder when the letter will actually come out and what version will be printed, but here is a quick reply to the draft that I read. A few points .. there exists no mechanism for legitimate school concerns to get discussed at BoE meetings, unless that concern is put on the official agenda. Many legitimate school concerns have been brought up by Jenn Jennings, BoE member, yet they have been silenced by the Agenda Setting Committee. There are concerns of the public. Hence, to retort, it’s certainly appropriate to bring them up in the virtual public square if our own BoE will not do their job by opening discussing issues. Then again the head of the Democratic Party is on the Agenda Setting Committee, so it’s not surprising that Republican voices are being silenced. Politics directly effect Glastonbury education. If GPS were to say, “Glastonbury Public Schools does NOT teach students that they are responsible for slavery. We do NOT teach students to hate their skin color. We are NOT indoctrinating children into socialism, communism or homosexuality. We do NOT teach 8-year-olds about masturbation,” and yet there was evidence to the contrary literally posted publicly on social media, and that evidence was being ignored, would that be gaslighting? Hence, would that be considered lying? Maybe GPS should adopt an “anti-lying policy” lol. What if GPS said, “We DO teach students to respect and value others,” but if my child walked into school and said, “Trump isn’t a bad person”: or voiced that he believes that God created only Man and Woman, would his views be valued and respected? I can answer that from personal experience with GPS and the EDI Council with a definitive, “No”, he would not be respected and valued. Lastly to call real parent concerns “politically manufactured distractions” is just obtuse. As a dad of four in three different schools in GPS, it saddens me that our education leadership says things like this and treats people this way. I look forward to a day when open conversation, middle ground, and achieved compromise rule the day. Unfortunately, I fear that day is far off in the future. |
Why We Are Running
| Hello Glastonbury! We are Jenn Jennings and Stephen Michaels; collectively, we have a total of seven children in four different schools, encompassing every level within our district and over a decade remaining before our kids graduate Glastonbury High School. Every decision that is made by our Board of Education and in our schools, impacts our children and our homes in one way or another-we are simply running to provide awareness, transparency and communi- cation that includes representation of all of us. We believe your voice matters! When it comes to transparency, the list is long with several questions raised and if we have questions, so do you… and we want them answered. Here are some examples where concern has been raised: In recent years, we have seen a school closure and redistricting, to only have to move one 5th grade class to the middle school, possibly a second next year and a multi-million-dollar renovation of another. What is the long-term plan? Sixth graders are being asked for their preferred pronouns across the grade without any transparency or notification sent home. This effort may be well intended to signal an inclusive, safe classroom where everyone is respected; however, it just may be more problematic than helpful even to those it is seeking to signal support. Have we asked students and teachers to weigh in? Or is the question simply checking a box to say we are inclusive? Our school website clearly states that our district promotes “Hiring of administrators, teachers, and staff members who are exceptionally qualified and people of color.” Don’t we want the best most highly qualified educators regardless of the color of their skin? What message does that send? As a district we spend millions of dollars for technology. Is it the right technology? Apple vs. PC? As other CT schools convert to PC, should we do the same? We want to ask questions and get some answers. In a recent correspondence to our teachers from our superintendent, it states, “Our students are amazingly resilient, but please do not set expectations too high for them.” Does that sound like a district that is focused on academic excellence? We believe the expectations we set for our children are critical in determining both their academic and social success. If elected, we as part of the Board of Education would be asking to keep high expectations for our children (yours and ours). We are not politicians; we are two parents who work full time that have a long-term vested interest in our schools, and we want the best for our kids and yours. We don’t have all the answers, but we do have lots of questions and we are committed to providing a voice to all parents and residents and ensuring a balanced and opportunistic learning environment for our students. We welcome your questions and perspective. |
Get to Know Me
| Democratic Town Council Chairman Tom Gullotta is at it again, attacking Glastonbury citizens that he doesn’t even know. He doesn’t know me. He’s never shook my hand nor simply called my phone number to say hi. What I’m asking you, my neighbors here in Glastonbury, to do is get to know me, Stephen Michaels, and find out why I’m not satisfied with the status quo. And I’m asking you to vote for me, Stephen Michaels, and my running mate, Jenn Jennings, for Glastonbury Board of Education. I’m running for the Board of Education this year because school is school, not politics and agendas. I’m done with our children being forced into controversial situations without parental guidance or consent, like pronouns or graphic content or racist division. I want our kids to be top priority, not playing second fiddle to every new ideology someone declares important. I believe our kids should be challenged, educated, and excited to take part in the American Dream. I believe in diversity and equality, and I believe we should celebrate what we have in this town, not look down upon it as if it’s not good enough. I want our children to focus on being accept- ing and inclusive through love and caring, not through naming a skin color and finger pointing and coercive force. I don’t believe in education through the lens of CRT or CRAP or even worse, expensive “consultants” teaching teachers how to teach. We have amazing teachers-let’s celebrate them as educators. Let’s help them teach a balanced consistent curriculum, not make them learn a new one every year. I believe in education through the lens that sees our boys and girls as kids, students, athletes, artists, musicians, etc.—a lens of passion, excitement, and smiles Our children get to live in a town that is supposed to focus on educational excellence first, but that doesn’t feel like the status quo today, does it? If you elect us, Stephen Michaels and Jenn Jennings, we will work to make sure the status quo is educational excellence first and leave the agendas, politics, and broken systems to the adults. Vote Stephen and Jenn on Nov. 2. This is one decision you won’t regret |
Vote for Stephen and Jenn
| Ever ask a child with chocolate all over his face if he ate a cookie right before dinner and he says “no.” He wasn’t lying because he ate a chocolate bar, not a cookie, and we all know that wasn’t the intent of the question. This is what it’s like asking the school if they are teaching CRT… The answer is “no,” but we all know that’s not the intent of the question. If elected, Jenn Jennings and I will end this ridiculous conversation of semantics and make sure there are no snacks before dinner. A few more reasons to vote for Jenn and I… Vote for the team with seven kids in the schools, not zero like our opponents. Vote for the team that is actively advocating for parents, not telling parents that they are wrong like our opponents. Vote for the team that is bringing to light those students who are suffering at the hands of today’s school policies. Vote for the team that commits to open lines of communication outside of board meetings. Vote for the team that does not support 11-year-olds being asked for their pronouns. Vote for the team that wants all our elementary schools in the top 50 in the state, not just most of them. Vote for the team that wants to start the annual budget conversation at a 0% increase and find ways to spend more on academics. Vote for the team that is actively working hard for you TODAY. We are not even in office yet and we are working on everything above. Vote for Jenn Jennings and Stephen Michaels for Board of Education. It’s one decision you will not regret. |
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