How can you leave behind your home, a safe haven, a place of
love, a treasure chest full of memories, and fare to uncharted
territories
– without shedding tears?
Dear Editor,
How can you leave behind your home, a safe haven, a place of love, a treasure chest full of memories, and fare to uncharted territories – without shedding tears?
For me, the only reason I burden my heart, by closing the door of junior high and stepping through the door of high school, is to pursue an education. Otherwise I could hardly imagine leaving the warm, enticing atmosphere of Britton Middle School. Excluding kindergarten, I have been to six different schools, and the single year I have spent at Britton is surely the hardest to get over.
Britton stole my heart. Pieces of it were devoured by unforgettable teachers; Mr. John Bremis, with his passionate expressions, and Mrs. Kathey Hansell, whom showed her students to dive into the bottomless chasm of thinking and writing. Is there a way to summarize and describe Mr. George Flores, whose exciting aura stimulates the students and whose ardor for life drew me back into his room for every photography club meeting and event?
Many a night I have cried in thankfulness for the elation that consumes me when I spend time in photo club, and for the memories of going onstage and living and loving the play “I Hate Shakespeare.”
Sitting on my fold-up chair, wearing a long royal blue robe, in the midst of a sea of aimlessly crashing waves during graduation, was a heartrending experience. I gazed about me with eyes hazy – at the brink of tears. A shaky smile touched my lips as my eyes lingered over friends the like of which I have never before known. Alacrity warmed the blood in my veins at the sight of Blake Porzio, Brianna Turner, and Jim Yang. I don’t feel ready to close a door on so much love, and such endearing friendships with peers and staff members.
I, and many others one can be sure, have bled these feelings into the walls of Britton, leaving behind an empowering essence in every nook and cranny of the school of my heart.
How can I leave behind my home, a safe haven, a place of love, a treasure chest full of my fondest memories, and fare away to uncharted territories – without shedding tears? I won’t, and I haven’t.
I reluctantly pull the door shut behind me, and face the world beyond alive and empowered. Goodbye, Britton Middle School.
Sara Dove Orosco, a Britton honor student, will attend Ann Sobrato High School in the fall
Dr. Alan Nishino provided the foundation for students to succeed
Dear Editor,
Dr. Alan K. Nishino is one of the finest leaders with whom I have had the privilege to work. His genuine and extremely deep commitment to all students by doing all he can so they have viable options for their future is at the heart of what motivates him. Students come first. And why shouldn’t they? Students and their education are what the business of education is all about.
Dr. Nishino continues to be an educator and demonstrates it on a regular basis. His meetings with either large or small groups, or one-on-one, most often includes a coaching lesson from which the person or persons with whom he is speaking is enriched, empowered and educated. He genuinely cares about those with whom he works and, like any teacher, wants us to know more, be fully aware and prepared and be as great as we possibly can be.
Among many, I genuinely believe Dr. Nishino’s legacy at the Morgan Hill Unified School District will be this: More 7th and 8th grade students will know and fully understand they actually can and will be successful at algebra and geometry and 9th grade students can and will be successful at biology. These courses are the gatekeepers to high school graduation and entrance into higher education, because they were given the opportunity to succeed in them.
Finally, there are two statements that I believe summarize and genuinely ring true about Alan. The first is about excellence, and the second is about priorities.
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible.
A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.
Thank you, Alan, and thank you, reader, for taking the time to read this.
Dan Ehrler, MHUSD grant writer and district spokesman
