Editor’s note: The following is a letter written to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from a Sachem North student. If you would like to take part in Sachem’s letter writing campaign, click here. If you have a letter you would like to share with the community, please email it to CVaccaro@Sachem.edu.
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Dear Mr. Cuomo,
I hope you are enjoying the New Year. My name is Kyle J. Kilkenny, and I am a sophomore at Sachem High School North of the Sachem Central School District located in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York. I am writing to inform you of my great distress over the loss of New York State Aid to my school district. Even though I am only 15 years of age, I understand the implications of this dramatic loss in aid. So, this is my plea to you in assisting Sachem in keeping the programs and courses I hold so dearly.
I have been a student in the Sachem Central School District since September 2002, where I was enrolled in Kindergarten. I am the son of two New York State taxpayers, Kenneth and Kerry Christine Kilkenny, who relocated to the Sachem area prior to my enrollment in order to ensure my autistic brother Kris and I a good education. During my experiences at Sachem for over 10 years, they have facilitated an environment where I have blossomed in academia and the fine arts. I have been a member of several clubs and groups at Samoset Middle School and Sachem North, including the Samoset Drama Club, the Samoset Select Jazz Choir, the Sachem North Drama Club, the Sachem North Model United Nations Club, the Sachem North Symphonic Choir, Co-Class President of the Class of 2015 during my Freshmen Year, and Sachem North’s 12-Person Acapella Jazz Choir, IMAGE. These programs have not only given me a wide range of activities to build my resume, but also an outlet to pursue my love of performing. I have also been in the Honors and Advanced Placement program for several years as well, and received very high grades on my Regents exams. Make no mistake; this is due to my fantastic education at Sachem.
However, I was deeply saddened upon hearing that these groups that have provided so many great students, including myself, an outlet and an interest in their education, might be cut next year. Cutting these programs will not only prevent children like myself from pursuing these passions, but also hindering several students’ academic success. Perhaps, yes, New York State and the Sachem Central School District are in times of great economic distress, but I know that this should not stifle success and progress in America. This is the America we are living in, and with the proper education young men and women like my brother and I can learn from past mistakes and build a better future. A better New York state. A better United States of America. With these cuts, you would not only be cutting these great programs and activities, but putting good teachers out of work. Several courses that could expand students’ knowledge will be cut, and class sizes will be raised drastically. Schools may be closed, and the great Sachem academia could potentially be marred to only include core classes. No music, no arts, no clubs. That is not progress, but a hindrance of New York’s students. Who is going to suffer? The future of America.
In his 2012 Presidential Campaign, President Obama used the slogan Forward. By not providing the Sachem Central School District with the appropriate state aid, the programs and clubs that have touched the generations of nearly six decades of Sachem students will cease to exist. This not only hinders a student’s academia and curriculum, but simply does not give students like myself an opportunity to participate in the extra-curricular activities we enjoy. Sachem North’s Drama Club was the first in New York State to secure the rights to the popular Broadway musical, Hairspray, which I was thoroughly proud to be a part of. Also, the Sachem North Model United Nations Club recently attended the John Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference, giving the “cream of the crop” students a chance to participate in an once-in-a-lifetime experience. I could not attend this event, because I was in a production of Legally Blonde that also received rave reviews. The bottom line, Mr. Governor, if these programs are cut, students will greatly suffer from this. Personally, I will be miserable without going into school every day, walking into Ms. Morace’s Choir Room and singing my heart out. What about not being able to stay after for Drama rehearsals every day? Or not pursuing my political aspirations as a member of the Model U.N.? I, simply, would hate going to school, if I could not participate in these great clubs.
A proposed solution to this issue is a great increase in taxes, which some members of the Sachem community can simply not afford. My mother is on disability following an automobile accident in 2009, and my father was laid off from his job in late 2011, and is no longer receiving Unemployment aid. Despite his efforts, my father has not been able to secure another job. A tax increase may sustain the district as we know it, but should families who cannot afford the ridiculous increase in taxes have to suffer? Absolutely not. Why should the hardworking Sachem community have to suffer? Why should both bright and challenged young men and women be stripped of all we have? May I remind you that Sachem is one of the largest school districts in New York State? If Sachem will be devastated by this cut in State Aid, how can New York State, one of the only states to have Regents examinations, be able to provide the very best students in the nation? Cuts in education are not the answer, Mr. Cuomo.
Mr. Cuomo, while I hope you hear me out, I especially hope you hear the voices of those students who cannot speak out. As the sibling of an autistic child, I know that the Sachem Central School District has provided a wide range of opportunities for students with special needs. These programs are essential to families like my own, and may be cut as a result of this decrease in state aid. All I know is this: I will be eligible to vote in 2016, and I will remember these next few months and how memorable my last two years at Sachem High School North were. I anticipate that you and your administration will remember all the children who are about to be greatly affected, and make a prompt and conscious decision as to restoring our district with the appropriate state aid.
I appreciate your time, and I most definitely look forward to your prompt decision.
Sincerely,
Your Fellow New Yorker, and American,
Kyle J. Kilkenny
Sachem High School North, Class of 2015
Dated: Thursday, February 21, 2013