As an editor, I appreciate anyone writing a letter to the editor. I don’t always like the content and some of them don’t make sense but the fact someone took the time to write means they read the SUN and are taking part in their community. We need a lot more of that in the Valley.
To that end, I keep “editor’s notes” to a bare minimum and often will allow someone to step into a mess on their own and just let readers decide what the letter writer is trying to say. Editor’s notes are anti-discussion. They quash opinions and intimidate people from writing in the future. Sometimes they’re needed to explain a letter-writer’s standing in a situation. See Ms. Alire’s letter above.
So I let some letters go that I probably shouldn’t.
What I can’t sit by and let go is the letter from Monica Garcia (opposite this column). We have a top-notch staff of reporters and editors here. I’d put them up against most of the hacks at dailies who write a story or two a week about the price of gas or how many days the sun shines. Our reporters work very hard and provide the community with an excellent product, regardless of whether the the entire community wants to accept that fact.
Ms. Garcia is upset that we keep telling readers about the less than ideal atmosphere in the middle school and that we never tell readers about the great things going on inside the barred fence. We invite Ms. Garcia to come review back issues of the SUN so she can a get a perspective on the facts of this matter.
Quarterly we list honor rollees. This is a thankless task viewed by a handful of people whose children made the honor roll. Normally teachers are the biggest hindrance to this process. Many bust deadlines and turn in names improperly. Please see B6 and 7.
Student of the month submissions are printed monthly. Please see page A15. We even added an option on the new web site to make it easier. We never get submissions from the middle school.
The SUN just sponsored the county Spelling Bee for the fourth consecutive year. This year the middle school sent some participants. It was the first year.
Sports editor George Morse routinely covers middle school sports.
We wrote about the middle school student entrepreneurs on May 1, 2008.
We cover MESA for every school participating in MESA in our readership area, as well as the Super Computing challenge. We are working on a story right now that will be published in next week’s issue about Española’s MESA students.
We attend every science fair, every spring for every school that informs us.
Extensive coverage of the County fair: July 31, July 22, Sept. 4, Sept. 11, Aug. 28. This includes all the lead up to the fair, FFA students during the year and state fair coverage in September for anyone who goes on to that level.
Arts editor Bob Eckert features student artists as often as possible. He does extensive coverage before the high school arts show, covers the judging and the wrap up. If there are budding artists in the middle school, please contact Mr. Eckert.
Poetry slam, ditto.
Regarding cultural fairs: we wrote about the Española Fiesta, Chama Days, St. Anne festival, Tierra Wool festival and did profiles on small towns all summer long.
We do a weekly classroom feature. It is on page A16 this week.
Test scores: 7 percent proficient in math and 39 proficient in reading is not something Ms. Garcia wants to brag about. That’s pitiful.
The news editor, assistant editor or myself have not received a single call or letter from the middle school in three years telling us of an event or student achievement at the school. This is despite meeting with administrators every August explaining how to get their “good news” in the newspaper. We are not mind-readers. Our crystal ball was hocked in December to pay the electric bill last week.
We have done weekly feature stories on students and schools throughout the County. Education reporter Jose de Wit covers about 32 schools. That includes fighting for public records, dancing with politicians and tag-teaming with cops and courts to cover violence in the schools. Jose, alone, by himself, one person. Kryptonite only slows him down. It doesn’t stop him.
That coverage includes the darlings in the Española Middle School who continue to be a drag on our local police force.
I have not covered all the school stories we work on all year. But Ms. Garcia should get the picture that we’re not the problem. We just report on the problems. We also report on positive things students are doing. Ms. Garcia apparently is blind to those stories or chooses to ignore them.
What is the image problem?