Exchange Students Long for Cap, Gown
I am a foreign exchange student from Thailand and now I am a student at Bel Air High School. Looking back at some important reasons why I came here as a foreign exchange student, one was because I wanted to improve my English.
Another important reason is that before I came here I talked with my friend who came to Catonsville as a foreign exchange student two years ago. She could be a "senior" and she had already gotten her Maryland high school diploma from her school. She told me about her feeling about participating in the graduation ceremony, the honorable ceremony that does not exist in our country.
Walking across the stage, dressing as a senior who graduated, those things motivated me to become a foreign exchange student in the United States of America. After knowing I have been placed with one host family in Maryland, I was so glad because at least it is the same state as my friend who came here two years ago. Three days after arriving in Maryland, I went to see the principal of Bel Air High School who disappointed me so much. He told me, "A foreign student could not get a diploma." I could not be a senior and I could not graduate.
I am 17 years old and I had already finished the 11th grade from my own country but now I have to repeat it again. I have a friend who is a foreign exchange student from Brazil at C. Milton Wright. How come the principal of his school could allow him to be a senior and participate in the graduation ceremony although would not get a diploma?
. . . Almost all of my friends in other states are seniors but me. Please, we do not need a diploma. We just want to participate in that ceremony, the ceremony that we cannot even see in our countries. That would be once in my life, the moment that we would never forget from being a foreign exchange student in this great country.
Prayut Apisitsareekul
Bel Air
High-Tech Skills
An article in The Sun on Dec. 11 by Phyllis Brill quoted Eileen Rehrmann as saying, "the competition for jobs and industry has significantly increased. . . . We must do more to meet the increased competition and changing times." She promised to make economic development one of her top priorities and to "continue its commitment to attract higher value, higher yield jobs." I hope this is more than hyperbole on her part.
There is a direct correlation between "higher value jobs" and the quality of a community's educational system. High tech companies must have entry level employees well-versed in high tech skills. These skills must be an integrated part of Harford County's educational system. To do this, and this is my point, the schools must have the equipment and curriculum.
If Mrs. Rehrmann expects her "top priority" to become her "top accomplishment," she must fully fund our schools. There is no excuse for Harford County being at, or near, the bottom of educational expenditure in Maryland. Instructional technology is an expensive investment, but our community and our children are worth it. . . .
If you have excellent public schools, you will have the "attraction" @Mrs. Rehrmann craves.
K. Gary Ambridge
Bel Air
Pierno's Downfall
For four years, Theresa Pierno held sway over the County Council, sitting at the right hand of Jeffrey Wilson, handing down moral and ethical guidance to the masses. The will of the majority never served as more than a minor stumbling block in achieving what she knew was right for the people who did not have the capacity to decide for themselves.
She rode the wave of flattery from her heavenly host of affluent constituents who convinced her of her infallibility to achieve their own elitist ends. The Aegis and The Sun were ready to climb compliantly onto the bandwagon rather than present a balanced picture. No wonder she became so firmly convinced that her noble courage and superior ideals made her Harford County's divinely appointed savior.
Fortunately, the founders of our system foresaw the dangers of public officials who come into office with the intent of serving their own agenda rather than representing the people. On Election Day the majority spoke, and the woman who saw herself as Joan of Arc is now forced to identify herself as former councilwoman Theresa Pierno.
Frank W. Soltis
Fallston