By Cory Armstrong-Hoss / For The Herald
Can you change the world with your pen?
In the next two weeks, you can.
With your pen, you can give the 600 students at Mukilteo Elementary — a school built for 350 — more classrooms and a new gymnasium. You can give breathing room to those 1,900 kids in other schools squeezing into portables and crowding into common spaces. You can ease overcrowding at Mariner High School, Explorer Middle School, Serene Lake, Challenger, Discovery and Horizon elementaries. You can help replace old, galvanized pipes at Explorer that give the water a yellowish tint as well as provide new classrooms and a new gym.
With your pen you can make our kids safer, with integrated lock systems on doors, secured access entry points and emergency contact systems. You can expand and improve our fiber-optic and wifi systems. You can improve 17 playfields, tracks and courts, and upgrade our Performing Arts Center.
With your pen, you can invest $240 million in our schools.
They deserve it.
Families move to our community because of the Mukilteo School District’s excellent educators, graduation rates and financial stewardship. With dozens of partnerships with nonprofits, the public sector, and aerospace — and the innovative Sno-Isle Skills Center — our district leads the way in preparing our kids to succeed in post-secondary education and in the workforce, and to become conscientious, engaged citizens. And we attract many of the best teachers in the state because of our quality of life, investment in education and health of our district.
As a nurse at a n elementary school, my wife sees how our teachers, administrators and specialists work hard every day to ensure all kids succeed. She’s often in meetings for one to two hours with multiple staff and the parent of one child, so they can create working solutions and a follow-up plan. For one child. In a school of more than 520 students. Because every kid matters.
But the school district bond vote on Feb. 11 isn’t just about K-12 kids. It’s about a fundamental question: As voters in the greater Mukilteo community, who do we want to be?
Do we want highly engaged citizens, educated and ready to contribute to the 21st century workforce? Do we want healthy property values, our biggest investments growing each year because families want to move to Mukilteo? Do we want thriving businesses, and customers with a decent income to support those businesses? Do we want centers of deep connection and support — nonprofits, churches and social services — supported by committed donors and volunteers? Do we want high quality, affordable early childhood education provide by the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, so all kids have the opportunity for a great start during the crucial early years?
My wife and I want all of these things for our kids.
We want them for our sixth-grader. You’ll find him delivering the Mukilteo Beacon after school on Wednesdays, playing his alto sax at a band concert, or trying to hit 60 mph with his fastball at the Mukilteo Little League games.
We want them for our second grader. You’ll find him in chess club on Tuesday afternoons, speed-reading a Percy Jackson book, or in swim lessons at the Y on Saturday mornings.
We want them for our five-year-old. When she’s not belting out “Frozen” songs or changing outfits, she’s climbing our magnolia tree or playing soccer at Rosehill.
We want them for your kids too, and for all kids.
In moments like this, I think about the late poet Gwendolyn Brooks, who reminded us that “We are each other’s business; we are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.”
With the bond vote fast approaching, consider this question: Can you change the world with your voice?
The members of our volunteer citizens team think that we can. So do our PTSAs, our Key Communicators, and the 42 Champions for Mukilteo Schools: business owners, community leaders, and educators focused on passing this Bond. Join us and use your voice for our 15,000 students and for the next generation.
Ways to use your voice before February 11th:
• Sign up for a Sign Waving shift on a Saturday morning.
• Call or e-mail 10 voters and encourage them to vote Yes.
• Put up a yard sign in your home or business.
• Like our Facebook page and share our videos with your friends.
• Create a post or short video to share on social media about why you support the bond.
• Change your Facebook profile picture to add the “I’m Voting Yes For Kids” frame.
For more information on these and other ways to use your voice, go to www.yes4mukilteokids.org/show-your-support.
In the next two weeks, you have a chance to change the world with your pen and your voice.
Our kids and teachers deserve it. And, the future of our community depends on it.
Cory Armstrong-Hoss is a father of three and lives in the Mukilteo School District.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
