October 25, 2007

ValleyViewpoints

Fund-raising should be for the entire school

Editor,
My name is Yutaka Yamamoto and I am a senior at Leland High School. On Oct. 27, our school holds its annual homecoming dance. Hence, I would like to address some concerns.

This year, the cheerleading squad at our school is organizing our dance, and all the profits go toward the team, and not the school. I find it ridiculous that the school does not get any part of this money.

Second, our school budgetary spending is flawed for several reasons. First, even after the community rejected the proposal to put in lights for our football stadium, the principal is still allowing the plan to go through, ignoring the opinions of many. Leland just finished building a new stadium, a new snack shack, a new bathroom and new bleachers. It is ironic how no other school sport except football is allowed to use the new stadium, or any of the above listed facilities.

I am in Leland Speech and Debate, but I would like to express concern over the funding. Just last week, our team had our annual California Pizza Kitchen fund-raising, where 20 percent of the profits went to our team. We have over 300 students on the team, compared to 30, on the football team: yet, we only get a fraction of the money.

It is ironic how every year, I pay more than $500 to be on the speech and debate team. This fee is reasonable considering the coaches we hire, tournaments we enter and the judges we hire. However, the school district takes all that money and distributes it throughout the school. For an example, the $500 that I paid to the team goes to the district and the district gives a portion of that money to other sports and other teams, and only a small budget comes to our team.

Our head coach, Mrs. Brasher is coaching adults full time in downtown San Jose, to just to earn money to run the team. She keeps none of the money, sending it all to the team she coaches including overtime for free.

Our school also built a brand new stage, and an "art gallery," which also faced stiff opposition from the community, but Mr. Sutterland [our principal] approved it anyway, and colored it purple.

Our school complains that we are short on funding, however we build extravagant architecture like a new sports complex, a new stadium, new football bathrooms, a stage and an art gallery, which only benefits a small portion of the student population. I have many friends who participate in other sports such as soccer, field hockey, track and field and cross country. However, from what I have heard, they are unable to use the football field because football players need it for their practice: even when football season is over.

My college applications are due in about three weeks. This time of the year, you'll find me running from class to class with a manila folder trying to find teachers for college recommendation letters. Leland High school, class of 2008 has about 500 students. We have one college counselor. She is overwhelmed, underpaid and is missing from her office half of the time. When I visited her last, she told me to find the information out myself. I believe that the school, instead of funding heavily on sports like football, should be funding for our future.

I scoff over the idea of school spirit at Leland High School. How are we supposed to have school spirit when the place where you spend most of your time during the day is giving all the proceeds of dances to the cheer squad, and over funding football, and cutting funding back on such things as the speech and debate team, our school band, the art department and college counselors. I feel insecure at school because the money that the public gives to our school is distributed unevenly and unfairly.

Last week, I tried to speak to our administration about this issue, but they just gave me blank stares and asked me to leave. This is not the kind of school that I want to have pride going to. I am not putting Leland High School down in any way. I want to resolve the flaws I see because I care about my high school.

Yutaka Yamamoto
Leland class of '08

Trials and tribulations of school fund-raisers

Editor,
I realize school fund-raisers are important and necessary due to budget cuts, but the last one at Castillero—and I definitely mean LAST—was the magazine drive from Great America Opportunities.

I should have gone with my first inclination and thrown the flyer in the trash can, but this fund-raiser caught my son’s attention as it offers numerous prizes ranging from a sticky hand for selling one magazine to a grand prize of a laptop for the child that sells the most magazines in the school from Sept 6-25.

As my son is into competitions, he made it a personal goal to achieve the top prize of a laptop. He proceeded with great determination to door knock the neighborhood and soon had over 20 subscriptions. As he was more concerned about magazine sales than homework, I took over asking people at church, work, soccer etc. People soon started running when they saw us coming!

We turned in the orders on Sept 25 as stated on flyers and posters around the school and to my son’s delight they announced him as the overall winner on Sept 25. They also announced a bonus week until Oct. 2.

Confused, I wrote a letter to the principal asking if this new fund-raiser affected the top prize of the laptop. I finally received a call from the assistant principal, who informed me that the bonus week did not affect the top prize so I told my son he didn’t have to worry about selling any more magazines.

Unfortunately this was incorrect information and a new winner was announced on Oct 2. This whole thing is really not about winning or losing but about being a little fairer in explaining ALL the rules. Hopefully they will change them next year so another child doesn’t go through the same emotional roller coaster my son did.

Gloria Skowronski
Almaden Valley

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