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Friends in education,
I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to ensure broad communication of my support to you all as you begin the 2023-2024 school year. In the coming months, we will hear community comments about the referendum and properly funding our schools – teachers compensation/benefits, classroom resources, and maintaining a thriving learning environment.
I stand firmly in support of an ongoing referendum. Your compensation, work environment, and job security are important to me because of the integral roles the school system plays in the lives of families, young students, young adults, and people who decide to move to Fishers and put down roots.
I am the product of public school, and my third-grade teacher at Duncan Elementary School, Mrs. Sargent, changed the trajectory of my life by noticing my reading skills were not on grade level. When we moved from Germany to Texas my vision began to lapse and I couldn’t see to read or do math (actually, second grade was horrible academically); hence, I was not on level and behind my classmates. My teacher informed my parents and helped me close my math and reading gaps. Ultimately, I was identified as a gifted student and began the appropriate curriculum.
In retrospect, I am so grateful for her care, expertise, and professionalism. Eighteen months later, in the middle of fourth grade, we moved to El Paso and the schools were underfunded, overcrowded, without gifted programs, and I was bullied for being fat, four-eyed, and nerdy (yes, that still stings). We had music classes every day, and that was my respite.
I started fifth grade in Cumberland County Schools in North Carolina, and my “gifted” designation allowed re-entry into programs and classes best for me, put me with my peers, and set me up for long-term success.
So yes, I know how vital teachers are and I have huge respect for the indelible marks they make.
During my daughter’s schooling, I was always an involved parent who worked to support teachers, staff, and students in order to create the best possible environment for learning, acceptance, and self-expression. My daughter has been blessed to have countless impactful teachers throughout her life.
Her first teacher, Ms. Lenora, taught me how to cultivate a lifelong love of learning within my child: sending Micayla to school with a nutritious lunch (with an emphasis on rehashing the previous evening’s dinner); demonstrating a love of environment by not creating unnecessary trash; growing her self-esteem by recreating an at-home Montessori-like environment to empower her; buying toys that were educational and fun; and allowing her to pursue subjects that greatly interested her (she wanted to be a nail tech in sixth grade and we spent time and money painting nails at women shelters and festivals).
She graduated with honors, cheered all four years, and earned a Hudson and Holland Scholarship to IU. She will pursue her doctorate in chiropractics in the fall at Logan University.
I greatly appreciate your hard work and dedication teachers provide by building young people. I support continuing the referendum and ensuring resources support teachers, classrooms, and students in the pursuit of academic excellence.
Tiffanie Ditlevson
Candidate for Fishers City Council, At-large