Dear Editor:

Over the past couple of weeks, I've seen and heard some very good things about our high school, which has recently been undergoing its once-in-a- decade accreditation process. As part of that process, five of our high school students presented information to the members of the accreditation team, and answered numerous questions from the visitors. Any one of your readers would have been proud of the way the students spoke, and on the way, they answered all questions with poise, intelligence and grace. The students involved were Kate Friant, Hannah Gentry, Page Brown, Sierra Murray and Bryan Otero. The students were impressive, and so were Superintendent Eileen King and Principal Dan Welch. Equally important are the teachers who make it all happen day to day. I know the evaluators heard good things from them also over the three days of the accreditation visit.

Then, just before the election, we heard Mr. Gorey's AP English class debate the election issues and could not have been more impressed with the work that these students had done, under Mr. Gorey's leadership, to understand the issues and debate them with intelligence and respect. This just deepened what I had seen and heard the week before.

Just before Thanksgiving, I spent the morning observing in the Making and Marketing class with teachers Mr. Chip Schwehm and Ms. Emily Harris, and then sat in on Mr. Mike Cherry's junior English class. I was impressed with the way both these classes effectively dealt with differences among students in the context of clear and strong lessons.

Together, teachers, administrators and the community have built an unusually strong set of offerings for a small rural high school here in Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor. If I had kids (though those days are long gone for me!), I would be pleased to have them enrolled here, studying with many great fellow students and enrolled in a strong high school program.

Bruce MacDonald

Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor

CSD School Committee member