Fort High School student shares impacts made by her teachers

Letter to the editor:

My name is Mackenzie, and I’m a sophomore at Fort Atkinson High School. These past three days, along with the previous weeks, have been very rough not just for me, but my family. I have been a student in the School District of Fort Atkinson since 2012.

In November, our school district’s referendum to spend more money for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year had failed.

On April 4th, our operational referendum failed. Over 52% of people in our community voted to not pass this referendum to keep our district going. About 6,000 people in our community were able to vote or chose to vote. I was not one of the people with this opportunity. I am a 16 year old who had fought for this referendum to pass, and try to have my voice heard. $6.8 million is what our district will be losing. This is equivalent to shutting down two elementary schools, the middle school, the high school or 70 teaching positions. Our district cannot afford any of these options.

The past three days, over $2 million just in jobs have been cut in the district. One of the ones that was cut was Samantha Tres. She was my biology teacher in my freshman year, and is my friend to now. On Wednesday, April 19th at 12:31 p.m., I found out that she would not be renewed as a teacher. She was a teacher who had shown me into the world of science like no other teacher had. She would let me, and other people come in during lunch or study halls so they didn’t have to be alone. She had been one of the best teachers, and to think that she will no longer be teaching at FAHS in two months is unimaginable. I didn’t just lose a teacher, but I lost a friend and someone that I trusted. Mrs. Tres was a biotech and medical occupations teacher here, and has been teaching for five years. At around 8 a.m. yesterday, Maren Haagensen had created a petition to keep Mrs. Tres at the high school. At about 6:45 p.m., yesterday, she spoke in front of the school district board, and she listed the following statistics: our student body at FAHS is about 950 people, and out of that amount, 353 students had signed that petition, including myself. That was 37% of our student body in one day.

Among with Samantha Tres, many other teachers were cut. I had about 11-12 of those teachers. Each and every one of the people that I had, had made an impact on my life. One of those teachers was my 6-8th grade orchestra teacher. Mr. Finnegan had made one of the biggest impacts on my life. Everyday when I came into orchestra during 4th hour, Mr. Finnegan had a huge smile on his face and talked to me everyday before class. To this day, I still see him at every concert and anytime that I’m at the middle school. Mr. Finnegan was the building block for my orchestra career, and now all that the school district has, is Mr. Callaway, and we don’t know what is going to happen with the orchestra program with only having one orchestra teacher.

I know that the actions that I take will not be enough to change the fate of these teachers. Over 16 teaching positions had been cut. We don’t know what is going to happen in the school district, with all of these positions gone. Sixteen-plus people do not know what’s next for them. They found out the horrific news that they would not have a job once the school year is over. Imagine if you found out you’d be losing your job in less than two months. These people have bills to pay, need money for food, and children to support. Not just their children, but their students, too. Each and every one of them had made an impact on not just one student, but hundreds of students.

I am not asking you to listen, but to consider the impact you are making on these students, including myself. Our education is on the line, with no longer having any of these teachers. Our education, mental health and future are on the line. Do you want to be a part of the change or do you want to be against it?

Mackenzie Cramlet

Fort Atkinson High School student