By Pam Erickson, Hamilton
My career in education includes participation in establishing two private elementary schools and a childcare center to serve Bitterroot families. In my course work at the University of Montana I learned the importance of the arts in education. Researchers found that the act of choosing a crayon stimulates the same area of the brain where higher math takes place. When Hamilton School Board president David Bedey began a process of re-visioning the curriculum taught in Hamilton schools, I attended meetings with teachers, parents and school board members and found no mention of the arts in Mr. Bedey’s proposal. None. I pointed out the omission of the arts in his vision plan. Mr. Bedey said he did not know about the brain connection between art and math. The arts get sidetracked when we have so much knowledge we want to impart to youth. However, nurturing creative thinkers will be crucial to dealing with the problems we face whether they are technological or social.
Having observed the vision process, I continued to attend school board meetings and was at a meeting in 2012 for the school board discussion concerning the sale of Grantsdale School. The appraisal was $400,000 to $425,000. The selling price turned out to be less than $200,000 for the school building (including a wood floored gym) and five acres. If the school needed to be sold, that’s fine, but not at fire sale prices. The low-priced sale of Grantsdale School under Mr. Bedey’s leadership makes me concerned about his ability to make good decisions with public money at the Montana State legislature. I will vote for Jason Nickisch, a pharmacist and a fine young man with wife and family here in the Bitterroot.