WINSLOW RESIDENTS STAND UP FOR WINSLOW


I have read the series of articles in the Courier-Post about Winslow. The main problem with our township is the reputation of the school district. My mom is a teacher and I just completed my freshmen year at Winslow Township High School.
Wrong reasons
Over the past year and a half, our school has been in the Courier-Post for all the wrong reasons. The Courier-Post has made our schools seem like such horrible places. As I read the articles, it made me more scared about my school than I had ever been. The articles made it seem like all that goes on is fighting and threats.
Since I have attended Winslow Township High School, I can say it's not always like that. There are kids who do the right thing and others who could care less. It's not the teachers' fault, either. They try their hardest to involve the kids and help them, but some of the kids won't budge.
The kids who do well in all areas are the ones who should be recognized. Did the Courier-Post know that my class (2010) brought up the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA) score for our school district last year? Did the Courier-Post know some of the students received an advanced placement on the GEPA? Did the Courier-Post know that some of the after-school programs offered to us are amazing?
Getting along
I was fortunate enough to be part of the spring musical at the high school. Not only did we sell out and put on a great play, but behind the set, the kids involved became friends. In December, I had never seen half the kids who were auditioning. By production week, everyone was talking, laughing and getting along really well.
If I hadn't joined the drama club, I can guarantee I wouldn't have said a word to most of those people. To me, the drama club is like another family. We all love each other, even though we all hang out with different cliques.
Facts not straight
It makes me angry that many of my friends who I have gone to school with since elementary school have left the district because of its bad reputation. That reputation is mainly caused by media outlets that don't have all of their facts straight.
I don't like hearing exaggerations about what goes on in our school district because it makes our township seem like such a terrible place, when it really isn't. One quick question. The day the high school had the lockdown, why were we the big news when there were two other schools in South Jersey under lockdown as well?

The writer is 15 and will be a sophomore at Winslow Township High School.

Re: "Winslow: Community at a Crossroads" (C-P, June 10).

As a 20-year resident of Winslow, I have raised my children here. I have had children in the Winslow Township School District for 13 years.

I am sorry to say that once again I found the Courier-Post's coverage of the issues in Winslow to be slanted very much to the negative side of things. My experience here is that Winslow schools are not a daily battleground and Winslow is not a powder keg of racial tensions.

Winslow is not perfect, but there is so very much more to write about that is positive than the Courier-Post chooses to cover. My experience here in Winslow also has been that, by and large, there is great apathy among the parents of school-age children that crosses socioeconomic and racial lines.

Over 13 years, I continue to see the same group of parents attend school functions and meetings, and who choose to contribute in a positive way to the school district. The only time parents turn out in large numbers is when there is a problem.

Regardless of the makeup of the Winslow Board of Education, the school administration and the teachers, no matter how good or bad those individuals may be, it all begins at home with the parents. Nothing will change here until there is less finger-pointing at the negative and more support for the positive through parent participation.

Winslow Resident