WORTHINGTON -- Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here this morning to help kickoff this important campaign. I truly believe that this may be the most important vote on the ballot this fall.
When I saw the theme, "Strong Schools=Strong Communities: Invest in Our Future," it brought me back to a conversation I had while training a volunteer to teach the Junior Achievement curriculum -- a curriculum that teaches students basic economic principals. The volunteer was going to be teaching the second-grade curriculum called "Our Community." The curriculum teaches young people about how communities work, the variety of jobs in a community, how people work together to make the community a better place to live, and why taxes are necessary to provide important services for all residents of a community. When we finished the training, we started talking about the upcoming referendum and the impact that supporting our schools has on our ability to draw new families into the area.
Not long after that I had someone say to me, "I bet you're glad that your kids are about done with school," and that really got me thinking about the fact that I'm moving into another stage of my adult life -- the middle -- a stage where you can look back and see the value of a strong school, and a stage where you can look forward, and see the value of a strong community and how intertwined they are.
Our oldest daughter, Laura, will soon start her senior year at SDSU, and I am proud to say that she is doing great at college -- she was well prepared thanks to District 518. Our youngest daughter, Sarah, will be a sophomore this fall -- and I am very proud of her as well. She is getting a great education and is also learning a great deal from her participation in various organizations, and I know that she will also be well prepared to head off to college. So, yes, our family may be close to being done with District 518 from a student relationship, but we are far from being done with District 518 -- as District 518 is one of the very foundations that our community is built on and around. Being married to a farmer, I won't be moving anytime soon. So, I now look at this "middle stage" as one where I am now focused on making sure that this community stays strong -- as this is the community that I will grow old in. The one where I hope my daughters will consider returning to, as a single person, or maybe with a new family. But, I hope that if and when that time comes, that they will never make a choice to move elsewhere because we as voters didn't have the foresight to think about the future impact that this vote will have on our community -- on our future. I know that no one is excited to pay more taxes, but I think the question we face today is not "Can I afford to vote yes?" -- I think the question is "Can I afford to vote no?"
I'd like to tell you what I believe a YES vote will mean. It will mean a strong future for our area. It will mean that when someone is considering relocating to this area, that they will want to know more. I've been on several search committees, and one of the first things perspective employees ask about is the school system -- and I want to answer that question with a very positive response -- not only for the current students of District 518, but for the future students whose parents might be considering relocating here.
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A YES vote will mean positive economic development -- a healthy main street radiating to and expanding beyond our current city limits into the rural areas. I believe a YES vote will help us bring our brightest and our best back to where they know their children can receive the same quality education that District 518 has been providing to past generations.
A YES vote means the ability for us to continue to get important services right here at home. This vote is not about just providing a quality education for our young people, it is about providing a quality community for old and young alike. I believe that supporting this referendum is more important now as I move into the next stages of my life. It is time for each of us to ask ourselves, "What is it that I want for this community?" -- and then the ultimate question of "Can I afford to vote no?" Strong Schools do equal Strong Communities. Please vote YES and invest in our future! Thank you.
