Dear Editor and Fellow Culver City Citizens,
I attended Culver City High School from 2006-2010. During my tenure there, I was the founder and President of the Student Union, an organization that fought for students’ rights and representation.
Currently I attend U.C. Santa Barbara and serve as an On-Campus Housing Senator, representing 5,000 students to the university. For the past year and a half I also have been charged with being a liaison between Faculty-Student shared governance committees and the Associated Students.
At CCHS I never took a class with Nancy Goldberg, but I interacted with her on multiple occasions. The Student Union advocated on the behalf of students for a wide array of issues. Ms. Goldberg was consistently among the most accessible teachers willing to advise and support students. She empowered us as student leaders, a skill that every single elected School Board member should have; sadly, this is not the case.
The climate of our state is one in which students are at the forefront of the protection of our public education system. Culver City needs a School Board that not only is receptive and accessible to every student but also one that empowers students to be the arbiters of our schools.
If there was a single person in Culver City who can bring these qualities to the Board, it is without a doubt Nancy.
Please feel free to contact me at jonathanabboud@umail.ucsb.edu
Someone I Turned to in a Time of Trouble
From Kevin Mitchell
I graduated from Culver City High School this June, the class of 2011. During my senior year, I led a large movement protesting the firing of Sheila Silver.
I witnessed certain Board members' lack of empathy in favor of a deeply flawed status quo. Additionally, after Ms. Silver's medical leave, the District forced students to move a production off campus due to unreasonable time limits to submit teachers for substitution.
They made no attempt to speak directly with or even display sympathy for the vastly difficult process to which the students had been subjected. There was no empathy, no understanding. That came from other teachers.
To effectively serve its students, a Board of Education must possess a familiarity and knowledge with student needs. Simply having a child in the District does not qualify an individual as understanding. Current School Board members with children in the District could not see the Silver debate from students' perspective, much to the chagrin and frustration of those they were supposed to serve.
Nancy Goldberg, however, has spent a lifetime teaching students the empathetical skills necessary for lifelong learning. While she primarily taught English, she made a concentrated effort to teach cultural and personal understanding.
Outside the classroom, she remained one of the most open, empathetic, and rational people I turned to in times of trouble.
One major difference between Ms. Goldberg and current members is that she asks questions of students, learns each side of the debate, and finally gives her wholehearted support to a position.
To insinuate that Ms. Goldberg is too old to serve, will fall asleep at meetings, or is somehow out of touch with students or the community is ridiculous. Based on my time with her, I would even call such allegations bold-faced lies.
As someone who actively took part in student discussions and controversies, she possesses a first-hand, rock-hard knowledge of how schools function.
My eighteenth birthday was two weeks ago. I greatly look forward to casting the first vote of my life to Nancy Goldberg for her ability to bring understanding, empathy, and an active desire to learn from students to the Culver City School Board.
Kevin Mitchell
Muhlenberg College
Culver City High School Class of 2011
Mr. Mitchell may be contacted at kevmitch@rocketmail.com
