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Thomas Jefferson said that an educated citizenry is essential for our survival as a free people.

From personal experience, I know that the teachers in the Social Studies department at SHS take this very seriously. Using primary documents like the U.S. Constitution and accounts from people who lived through the events we analyze, our goal is to teach students to make up their own minds about the past, to think on their own, and to have the ability to make informed decisions about their lives, their communities, and their country. Students are encouraged to have their own opinions on everything we study, and we constantly look at differing opinions of historical events.

The social studies courses at SHS would not be completely dismantled if the levy did not pass, but many other classes and activities would be totally done away with. Teaching students to think on their own goes far beyond the core classes, and so we need our electives and extracurricular activities to teach students to be well-rounded individuals. It often takes success at a sport, or in band or choir, or in drama, or an elective like sociology, for students to find their voices so they feel comfortable standing up for what they believe.

Whatever it is our students believe, they need to have the tools to voice it. Those tools come in some core classes like social studies, but they so often come from other activities too; activities and classes that would no longer exist should the levy not pass.

CONOR BARANSKI

Sandpoint