Templetonian August 13, 2013 at 8:11 AM
Last year Citizens for Templeton raised money at the Craft Fair to buy school supplies, shoes and clothing for the children in need in the Narragansett School System. They also held a fund raiser to help pay hospital bills for a student who experienced a very awful experience last year. In my opinion, that is not "anti-school" and, in fact, quite the opposite. Many who read and post comments on this blog are educators themselves. No one has ever stated that they do not find education important or refusing to pay for it. The majority of the discussion is based around HOW to pay for education and HOW to fix the flawed education system. This is not "anti-school". I would like to know what efforts Gansett Greatness has done to help the children most in need in the school system. Have they done any fundraising? Have they put pressure on the School Committee to find a permanent solution to the flawed education system? Have they done anything to engage the public with school activities or raise awareness on the achievements of the kids in arts, academics, and sports? How about gathering together concerned educators and parents from other districts who are facing unsustainable budgets and lobbying the state to find a solution? That would be greatness. Positive activism is far more productive than creating a town vs. school war. I'm sure the Citizens for Templeton would be happy to help raise money for kids that can't afford sports fees. Maybe Gansett Greatness can partner with them and actually work together to do something positive FOR THE KIDS. How about having a concert on the common to raise money for the band uniforms? We all need to think outside the box and try to solve problems by putting out heads together instead of tearing each other down. Some say that Templeton is going down the drain and they threaten to send their kids elsewhere or move. I say 'don't let the door hit you on the way out'. These people do not love this town the way I do and do not have a true concept of community. Stop asking what can the town give you and start asking what can you give to the town. When times get tough, we have to work harder TOGETHER to embrace the good and bring the town back to its original glory, not quit. Quitters never win. Winners never quit.
Templetonian you need to run for selectman the town needs more people with level heads and common sense.
ReplyDeleteOur C4T group raise good amount of money for the kids.I was shocked at how many kids were homeless and so were the people we told about them. It was not a hard sell to get the people to purchase tickets on chances for the baskets members had donated. I thank all members who put their time in the effort and it was very rewarding to have people say thank you for what we were doing. The people in Templeton and C4T are a very unique group. When they see something wrong we step up and take on the issue,help or even just sit and listen. But what we don't do is sit back and bitch about the way things need to be to fix problems we have.We help out and have a common goal to better Templeton and her people living here.This blog shows what a small number of dedicated people with great leadership can do. Thanks to Bev and Julie and all my fellow members for a job well done. I'm proud to be a C4T. Nobody can change that.Those who have the will to win can never be beat.Please help us move Templeton forward one issue at a time.
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Last year there were 40 homeless kids. I have no idea how many there will be this year. Many of these kids were living with friends or relatives. I think some of them spent the summer in camping areas. I am very worried about the winter, and how people will pay for heat. Bart said the federal government cut fuel assistance this year. Last year people were calling the Selectmen's Office looking for help, after their fuel allotment was gone, and they had used what Joe for oil, had given them. The elderly will have a harder time trying to stay worm, especially people who live on a very small income. The increase for gas, food and oil. will do some of them in. If the food pantry was busy last year, I can only imagine what will happen this year. This is time to count your blessings. If you have a good income, be grateful, not everyone does. Bev.
DeleteIf you had children in the school district you would know that Gansett Greatness has in fact asisted families who were struck by tragedy or were otherwise in need. They have done other activities as well to support the teachers and the community. GG did not post it on a blog or anywhere else and I thank them for that. I was raised to help people because you want to help your fellow man. Humility goes a long way in my book.
ReplyDeleteJoe, thank you for backing up my point. There's are thousands of Templeton residents that either don't have children or their kids are grown up. They don't know what goes on in the school system. There is no connection. And that's my point. In order to get more support for the schools (and for the kids), GG should look for ways to bridge that communication gap instead of coming on this blog and calling people stupid, anti-school, and perpetuating a needless feud. I pointed out what C4T has raised funds for in the past--not to boast--but to show that there is thought and support for the kids in our community even from people who are against the proposed school budget. My overall point was to suggest all groups come together and work towards one shared goal: fundraise for extracurricular activities for the kids. There simply is no need to fight or take sides. People who vote no on the budget amount are not sinister bad guys scheming in their lair on how to harm children in town. No need to pose as a "super hero" to save the kids. People who vote no on the proposed budget are not the source of the school's problems. In my opinion, the school committee should be focusing on solving the real problems instead of simply looking for more money from an empty wallet and doing it in a way which antagonizes the wallet's owner. GG could reach out to other communities in this same boat and form a grassroots organization to get the state to change policy. Or, hold the school committee accountable for taking on that task. All I know is there are a lot of people that would be very pleased for the school to compromise and lower their budget number. It would be a sign of trying to work with the town, not against it. We'll see if it happens. Either way, we'll all live through this and carry on. Please pick and choose your actions wisely.
DeleteHi Joe - I agree, you should not brag about good works. But in this case, this was posted in response that people who voted "no" on the override were against the school, against the children etc. It was in response to some rather nasty posts. Kudos to GG, for their good works.
ReplyDeletePlease VOTE NO on August 22nd.
ReplyDeletePlease vote to preserve public safety in Templeton.
A "NO" vote may force the school committee and superintendent to REDUCE THEIR Request which is bankrupting the Town of Templeton.
Please VOTE NO on August 22nd.
Hello, I am one of the founding leaders of Gansett Greatness that only came to be this year via the override vote and I am tired of seeing our name on this blog being trashed and tarnished. We are a new beginnings group with big ideas the budget and fight for our school district has been our focus for right now. I know there are some on here that write and may have come to Gansett Greatness meetings, but some of those views are not necessarily the views of ALL of the Gansett Greatness community. Community Advocates for Gansett Greatness is about being positive. There are also many of you on this blog that have not come to even ONE meeting that Gansett Greatness had and they were weekly and they were posted. It seems that some of you wish to write on this blog and tell our group what we should and should not be doing, but many of you know EXACTLY who I am and I have not received one call from you to give any suggestions.
ReplyDeleteNow I will speak only on my behalf and not those of the GG community. I am involved in this community as I volunteer in many places such at CERT and I am a poll worker and I was involved in the Templeton 250th and so much more, I come to town meetings and other meetings outside of just the school issues. Good works do not need to be spoken of as many families prefer it that way and I for one believe it's about dignity and preserving that. I have a job as a Realtor and I am raising a family of 5 and I still make time to be involved as much as I can. Shame on any of you that have written shame on me as I have a right to stand up for what I believe in and to have others also stand with me. I am standing for my children and all the children that attend Narragansett school system, I volunteer in the school and I have tried for over a year to bridge the communication gap between the school and my district. I stand up for my community vocally, but that is my choice. There are many that bridge that gap by doing and not speaking as they are not comfortable with that but they come to meetings and by voting their voice is heard ~ kudos to them. Community Advocates for Gansett Greatness was highly instrumental in getting more people out to vote in BOTH elections than any other. Of course we wanted a yes vote, but the point was that people were involved and voted what they felt was right. We educated our parents, guardians, children and district and we put out literature to help people that have never come to a meeting before. I have remained positive and have not lashed out at any that speak negatively as that will get us only farther from the goal. I know many that read this blog, me only recently since someone pointed out our group was being bashed and my name was on here. Why can it not be more positive? Why do you allow such writings? Just because a person does not have the same view as you does not ever give us the right to use words that are hurtful and harmful. ~ to be continued in another post as my first post was too long.......
I am deeply saddened by all of these things that I read here that have people called out by name that are stated in a negative connotation. Is that respectful? I will state that my parents taught me better and if you had nothing nice to say, not to say it all and most especially don't put it in writing. I will respectfully request that if you have anything to say about the Community Advocates for Gansett Greatness that you say it to me in person or you call me. My number is very easy to find as I am the social media/Tuesday Girl of Templeton and my information is public. As one of the leaders of Community Advocates for Gansett Greatness, we are working on our mission and vision that extends to the community as our school district is an integral part of that. So, again you have our Facebook page linked here on this blog and I will ask that you come to meetings when we start them again and be a part of the process. I hope this year we will have even more involvement from our town as we press forward with helping our students be all they can be and educating our towns on the importance of being involved together.
ReplyDeleteI love my town and we are going through growing pains and in the end we will all be fine. I am voting yes for our full budget at the joint town meeting. I am standing up for our students as they don't have a voice to say how these cuts will affect them and they cannot vote for themselves, so I am doing that for them. To know from many that they appreciate all Gansett Greatness has done to be on their side is all the encouragement I need to keep the faith and run the race. I know many in our Community Adovacates GG group will agree. Again, I will ask you to contact me and to come to our meetings. I thank you for your time and I will not write here again as I prefer face to face conversation or you can email me at 1tuesdaygirl@gmail.com as that is also a great way to communicate also.
Also, there was a comment that looked like it was posted by me on another blog entry here and it was another Gansett Greatness member that had signed in to our community GG account and didn't want to be posting under my name. Perhaps they will comment another time. Thank you again for your time and consideration of my writing and my request.
ReplyDeleteDiane- Much like there are people on Pauly's blog that have been vicious in their comments, there are GG members who also have been vicious in their comments too. Everyone should share the blame. This situation has brought out the worst in all of us unfortunately. Its very painful for everyone. I think your group was formed with the best intentions as well as Pauly's blog was. And the main goal for each group was to help the town overcome some pretty deep financial and leadership wounds as well as to improve awareness and promote positive actions. Thank goodness for each because 10 years ago, there was nothing. I've seen the fighting amongst citizens get to the point where neighbors are no longer speaking to each other due to conflicting opinions. Its very sad to see it all become so personal. In my opinion, I feel there are a handful of people that wanted this to happen--for us to turn on one another and create utter destruction to the town. They are loving every minute of this crisis. Shame on them!
ReplyDeleteSo, how can we all forgive one another for the nasty behavior and change it to positive behavior? How can we come together to right all the wrongs that have occurred? We can start with better communication all the way around. I'm not sure where your meetings were posted as the town website doesn't list many meetings that are not affiliated with the town. The town website doesn't even have a link to the NRSD website at this time. We need to find a better way to communicate outside our chosen groups and get everyone to care about all aspects of the town. Maybe in the future the town calendar will allow posts from various community groups. The good that can come out of all of this is actually education for us all. The parents that only are aware of the school's issues will now pay attention to the town issues. The citizens who only know of the town's issues will now pay attention to the school issues. Some of the best moments in recent past are when we all came together to celebrate the best of Templeton and cast politics aside. The 250th events were an opportunity for this to happen. Thank you for all your efforts during those events. And thank you for all your other efforts to inform and promote the good in the community.
In my opinion, most people on this blog also wanted the override to pass. But, now that this unfortunate deficit may eliminate the police or other essential services, people will vote no on anything regarding the school budget until they see a compromise from the school committee. Unfortunately, no matter what the vote is--yes or no--the community is going to lose. It will be a very tough year to come as was the previous year. But, I think this is the bottom and we can only go up from here. We all learned some tough lessons. The main one being never use savings account to balance budget both for the town and for the school budgets. Next year, we will all be better informed and won't make the same mistakes again. I really pray that our community will see how important it is to stop fighting, treat each other with more respect, learn to debate without making it personal, stop voting based on alliances or revenge and remember that we're all on the same team with a shared goal. 'Gansett is great, always has been, and will be in the future. Templeton is also great. We may have lost sight of it for a bit. But I have positive thoughts that it will regain its greatness again soon with our new financial officers and our new BOS members. Its up to all of us to make the entire community great as well.
Templetonian~ Thanks for your response and I enjoy volunteering and I wish I had more time. I am not sure when the healing will begin and I will state only one thing. No one is allowed to speak disrespectfully on any page or website I am an administrator on. Having an opinion is wonderful and ideas too, that is what we were built on. I believe that my actions over the last few years in the community, how I treat others and how I act online and on the business pages I run speak for itself. I have deleted disrespectful comments (there have not been many) have set the tone of where it needs to be and others have been grateful for that. I learn from others and I hope they feel the same. I have not posted my political views on any of my FB pages except Gansett Greatness and my own personal page, it would be completely unfair of me to do so. I only post about meetings. This is my opinion.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct in saying it will be a lose situation on either side. There does need to be more communication in a much more positive way and not all the negativity. It only serves to further separate people. I have taken more time to read what is here and there are some valid points. But I will say that the comments about the school committee and Ms. Miller are sometimes downright spiteful, hurtful, rude and over the top. It is her job to advocate for the children and the district. It is also the same for the SC. It is also the job of our Selectman to lead and serve our town and it's people. So, that is where I feel the line is drawn and where the angry words have come from. Each side is passionate about how they view it and feel and vote and that should be alright. My advocating for the school and the kids should not be viewed as shameful ~ it's my right and my choice. Neither should your view, your choice and your vote be labeled either.
We are still a young group and many parents/guardians and community members have felt the need to "renounce" themselves from us because they feel it now has a bad connotation. That to me is sad and frustrating because I have worked so long to try to build it. That is probably what angers me most as there are many here and out in the community that don't have the first idea of what we are trying to accomplish over the long run and yet have had words to say, but I said that in my last post so I will not beat it to death.
I know there are some from GG that have been negative and have had nasty comments and it should not be condoned and the ones I know of I have stated as such to them. I and others are tired of being called "those school people" or "that group" ~ we have made a difference in the lives of the children and our community as many of you have and we should respect and honor that. I also have spoken up when people say it's the "seniors" that don't say yes as I know for a fact it is not so.
I will take under advisement and put to paper your thoughts here and I respect that you spoke of both sides of the issue. The town voted to use up all the stabilization and we knew it was happening and it is how we helped keep things going. The school used it's E&D funds to help the town and to save as much academics and programs as it could and now it too is out of funds. Each entity voted to do so with the best intentions and now it's up to us as a community to rebuild. It's a shame the override didn't pass and I believe the leadership should have been much more outspoken on WHY it was needed. Gansett Greatness tried the best way it could as it was supporting our district yet all of us believe in our community. It was hard to think of getting together with folks that cut you up each chance they get, do you understand?
I hope going forward we will work together to bring out the best and GREATNESS is all of us because it is there. Our future is in those school walls and our future is in the wisdom of our elders. We are a great Templeton and I believe in it.