LETTER TO THE EDITOR

To the vot­ers of the Per­rys­burg community,

Per­rys­burg is a spe­cial place. It is spe­cial because of its geog­ra­phy, its his­tory, its sense of pride. Our peo­ple bring diverse tal­ents yet work in har­mony to cre­ate a com­mu­nity. The cor­ner­stone of our com­mu­nity is our school sys­tem; it is inte­gral to Per­rys­burg pride. Per­rys­burg Schools is who we are.

Perrysburg’s music and the­atre pro­gram is one of our crown jew­els — a pro­gram so dynamic and so accom­plished that we reg­u­larly are selected as a top 100 music pro­gram in the nation. Our stu­dents learn vocal music from kinder­garten through grade 12, strings from grades 5 through 12 and band from grades six through 12.

Music is a key com­po­nent of any qual­ity edu­ca­tion. Music sup­ports all sub­jects ; music con­nects the senses to the intel­lect. Music is a lan­guage. It requires stu­dents to inter­pret, to inter­act, to perform.

Music is in peril if our levy does not pass. Vocal music 6–12 will likely lose direc­tors. Vocal, Orches­tra, Band and The­atre elec­tives will likely be severely cut back. One of Perrysburg’s great­est accom­plish­ments, one of our stun­ning suc­cesses, risks being less than ordi­nary. And with that loss will go oppor­tu­nity. Oppor­tu­nity can­not knock if there is no door.