"Building Small Villages...One Brick At A Time"

I wrote this is a letter to the editor of our local newspaper and submitted it this weekend. Just wanted to share...    : )

This past summer, I prepared for my daughters first year of school. Being new to kindergarten, since I was a first timer,
I did all the "normal things" to get ready. Register, check. Backpack and classroom supplies, check. Vaccinations, check. New sparkling uniforms, check. Open House, done. Finally, the day arrived and I thought I was ready. Little did I know, I had barely scratched the surface.

I found myself thrown into a whirlwind of standardized testing, homework, PTA, volunteering, school improvement, budget cutbacks, and the "politics of the population".

Digging deeper, I became overwhelmed with passion to make a difference for my child and her classmates. Researching further gave me reason to expand my mission to make some kind of an impact for the school, community, and district as a whole.

In this busy time, I urge all parents, grandparents, teachers, and community members to take an active role in our childrens education. There is so much need and all help, big and small, is noticed and appreciated.

If it takes a village to raise a child, I'm building one! I need your help. Our kids need your help!

I'm making this commitment. I'm raising my voice, raising my expectations, raising my standards, and refusing to be swept under rug. I will not stand in the background of our childrens education, while mediocrity stands in the foreground.

Please join me! Get involved! It takes very little time to make a difference in a child's life and your community. Find me if you don't know how to help. I'm in my community daily...collecting and laying bricks.

Christy Leigh Gardner
Proud Mama, National PTA® member, and "Brick Layer"
Watkins BumbleBee PTA® local leader