Support for middle school sports

I am writing in response to a recent letter published in your newspaper (“Parents May Support Sports Cuts,” April 29).

First, I would like to express my admiration for the wonderful teachers in our school district. Did you know that over 80 percent of the eighth grade students at Chief Kanim Middle School participate in at least one extracurricular program?

Did you see the petition brought forth by the student at Snoqualmie Middle School, with signatures of several hundred students? We are not “a small group of the population… with a big voice!” Rather, we are hundreds of families who wish to preserve the extracurricular experience for our children.

Calling the extracurricular programs “a really great day-care” is an insult to our teachers who work so hard to coach and mentor our kids. These men and women have an incredible effect on our kids. With the help of these teachers, our kids learn to compete, to respect authority and to lose gracefully.

It is not true that the same types of programs are available in the community. Relying on select programs to fill the void means that many kids will lose out on the chance to play a competitive sport, because they will not have the athletic skills or funds to join a select program.

As parents, we are willing to work hard to find a solution to the budget problems. I hope our school district will consider our input and find a new funding model, so that we can save our extracurricular programs!

Carolyn Tomson

Fall City