Safety at schools
As a longtime resident (1964) and supporter of Mercer Island schools, I want to express my solidarity with the teachers who are afraid of going back into the school system.
Our three children attended Mercer Island schools from kindergarten through high school. They took advantage of every opportunity the excellent schools had to offer, so we felt no need to send them to private schools off the island.
While I have voted for every bond issue and given every year to the school foundation, I do not support sending our teachers back into the classrooms until they have all been vaccinated.
We are both in our 80s and soon to be vaccinated. I believe that it is more important for teachers to be vaccinated than for us. We are relatively safe. They will not be. This will result in community spread. They should be first. Open the schools when everyone is safe.
June Lindsey,
Mercer Island
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For the love of arts
Many Islanders seem to value your results, but not your beginnings. They watch “The Queen’s Gambit,” but don’t recognize the years of community theater that got them there. A space like Mercer Island Center for the Arts would be a fantastic solution to this ignorant state of ignoring, but the pandemic seems to dominate progress for all other issues despite your undeniably integral role in our community.
I wrote this letter to say I’m sorry. I’ve tried to support you, protect you like a spurt of oxygen next to a dwindling flame, but without more like me, your death seems imminent. I will get you out of this, I have to, I need you, but you must help out. You need to show the world how important you are. I know, but they seem to forget. Remind them of the passion, the joy, the need to express to communicate.
I want to spend my life with you. I don’t have enough money for a ring yet, but it’ll be the most beautiful ring you’ve ever seen. For now, you’ll just have to imagine it, make do with a bent paper clip, but imagining is what you’re best at, right? Whenever it seems that your life is dire, look at the ring. Well, where the ring would be. Look at that hope. You don’t need a ring for it — it’s within you. And that’s what makes you so special.
Kyle Gerstel,
Mercer Island
