Milestones or Myths

It's June and a time for attending graduations and celebrating achievements of our students who worked diligently throughout the year to accomplish a great milestone in their life.

My granddaughter, Kamilah, graduates this week and not without special recognition for her achievements this past year. Among Kamilah's talents, including a beautiful voice and ballet dancer, is her incredible gift to communicate with animals. From an early age, Kamilah has expressed her desire to become a veterinarian. For that reason, Kamilah has been working very hard to pull up her grades with her eyes set on honor and AP classes when she enters high school in the Fall. Kamilah is a great cook and loves to eat. To ensure she maintains a healthy balance in her lifestyle, Kamilah has taken up boxing this year and works out at the gym regularly with her Mom and older sister. Kamilah is excited about high school and wants to be in shape to be able to join one of the sports teams this Fall.

Kamilah's younger brother, Marcus, at the age of 11 is an accomplished musician and plays just about any instrument he picks up. His main focus is piano and percussion. He loves football but due to an injury, he was benched for the year for his own safety. He is looking forward to getting back out on the football field in the Fall.

Marcus has always done well in his academic courses and has been an "A" student over the past few years. This year, Marcus has excelled even further and is slated to enter in high honors for all of his academic courses this Fall. What a grand achievement.

Kamilah's older sister, Izegbe (L-R Marcus, Ashley, Izegbe), a high school student, has achieved much this year, as she has in the past, in the arts and academics. A gifted dancer and singer, Izegbe is a member of her high school's Jazzapella performing group where she choreographed some of the routines that Jazzapella performed. She is a fine artist and has won awards for her paintings and collages. Most notable is her ability to write short stories. When she graduated from junior high school, Izegbe's valedictorian speech brought tears to the eyes of young and old alike. At high school, Izegbe became a member of the mediation team, successfully assisting in working out disputes of her peers. She ran for and was elected class president. It was no surprise for Izegbe to achieve honors English and her school chorus for next Fall, as well as be accepted into the school for the arts. She is slated to spend half her day in academic classes and half her day in classes for the arts.

On the surface, this family should be celebrating. All the hard work and efforts that each expended has paid off in spades. Not so fast.

When Marcus enters school in the Fall, there will be no high honors program for him to further excel, no football team for him to get back to and no music classes to continue his love of music. When Kamilah enters school in the Fall, there will be no honor classes or AP courses for her to aspire to, no choral groups or sports teams for her to participate in. When Izegbe enters school in the Fall, there will be no honors or AP classes, no choral group, and that special school for the arts is at risk because of budget cuts.

In every household across America, we promise our children that if they work hard, they will realize their dreams. If they apply themselves in school, they will be able to enter the college of their choice, thereby ensuring their future success. We encourage our children to take part in art, music and sports and strive for gifted programs to ensure their learning experience is a sustainable one. And now that our children have done just that, the rug is being yanked out from beneath their feet.

In true, trickle-down economics style, the economic mess of the past eight years is causing the majority of the cities in this state (among many other states) to defund the honors and AP courses, defund the arts, music and sports programs, defund access to the Internet -- and not just in schools but in all of the public libraries, as well! And what about the teachers and staff who ran these programs and classes, they are now slated to join the ever growing ranks of the unemployed.

As if this is not enough, we are subjected to the outright lies of Gingrich, Limbaugh, Pallin, et al, who blame this mess on our new President. This crisis that has infected itself into every aspect of our society did not start on January 21, 2009, it started eight years ago. And the likes of folks like Gingrich (who was ousted by his own party), Limbaugh, et al, need to either get on board and help fix this mess by doing everything they can to support the President's plan, or shut up and get out of the way.

Stepping back for a moment, when I first heard mention of all the great achievements my grandchildren had made, I was so excited that I got in my car and drove over to their house to hear about everything first hand. As I listened to my son and daughter-in-law talk about each one's progress, I did not feel any excitement coming from them. Then Izegbe came into the room and delivered the bad news, I saw the disappointment in her eyes but at the same time, I heard the determination in her voice.

All of my children and grandchildren eagerly took on an active role in the past presidential campaign. My granddaughter Elektra (Adelphi Univ.) canvassed in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. All of them knocked on doors, made phone calls and more. Izegbe got to meet Mrs. Obama in person and hear then Sen. Obama speak in person, as well. Izegbe's involvement in the campaign inspired her to run for class president and she won.

Now Izegbe is busy uniting with fellow students, teachers and parents to go to East Hartford's town hall meeting on June 16th to testify against the budget cuts. She looked at us and said "everyone has to be there." They are wearing their team uniforms, Jazzapella sweatshirts and T-shirts, choral robes and more to show their solidarity and to give testimony on what these programs mean to them. Izegbe's message on Face Book says it all, "I think everyone needs to go to the Town Hall meeting on the 16th because we cannot let them get rid of our sports, arts and gifted programs ..."

We must drown out the negative voices of the naysayers -- the ones who got us in this mess -- with the truth about them and by doing everything we can to support President Obama's plan for the future. Our youth have stepped up and out in front, rallying for a just cause. Let's not allow the milestones that our precious youth have achieved turn into a myth. Let's support them in every way. The road to our victory is our united voice.