Reading program
worthy of attention

In response to "New reading program goes by the book" (Canby Herald, Feb. 21), I would like to extend an invitation to any and all of the reporters at the Canby Herald to cover "the rest of the story" at Carus Elementary School.

At Carus, we too are participating in the Canby Can Read program, but we have gone the extra mile for our students. On Feb. 1, Carus principal Mary Hochstetler - aka "Queen Mary" - decreed a schoolwide Reading Quest Around the World.

Queen Mary and the Reading Quest program were introduced at an all-school assembly by the Carus Kingdom's Court Jester, Peter Bellamy (aka as our instructional coordinator). Students were invited to travel from kingdom to kingdom around the world by having their parents read to them, in the primary grades, or read on their own, with the minutes read each night to be turned into their teacher the next day.

Elaborately decorated maps adorn all the classrooms, with knights on horses tracking their progress from kingdom to kingdom. A master map in the main hall, surrounded by dragons drawn by the fifth- and sixth-graders, tracks the progress of each classroom's average minutes.

This Quest ends on Dr. Seuss's birthday, March 2, when Queen Mary will ring the Carus school bell located at the front entrance to the school, one time for each 10,000 minutes the students have read. The school goal is 200,000 minutes.

During the evening of March 1, there will be a reading celebration at Carus.

Each student who comes through the front doors will receive a free book to keep, and there will be "Carus Elementary School READ" T-shirts available that evening.

Guest readers will be situated throughout the school reading from their favorite books, and a professional puppet show presentation will take place in the gym. Some of the guest readers will include administrators from the Canby School District office, members of the Canby School Board, and many teachers and community members.

Also during the month of February, all the students will have the opportunity to participate in the Carus Student Book Exchange. Students are encouraged bring in up to five books that they no longer need, and in turn are allowed to exchange them for five different books from the "exchange library."

Of course, anyone may bring in more than five books if they choose. Books have been collected and sorted since Feb. 12, and the book exchange date is set for Feb. 28. All students are allowed to choose books to keep, even if they were not able to bring in any books to add to the exchange library. We have received a wonderful donation of books from one of our bus drivers at First Student.

Carus may be one of the "rural" elementary schools in the Canby School District, but we think we have the most talented and dedicated teaching staff, loyal parent volunteers and a great bunch of students. Again, I would like to extend that invitation to the Canby Herald to come out and see us some time; you might be surprised what you find.
Rhonda R. Rosenlof
Beavercreek

NEA's contribution
raises questions

The National Education Association, under the direction of its Gay and Lesbian Caucus, has been passing homosexual agenda items for more than a decade. So it should come as little surprise that the Oregon Education Association gave $57,484 to the "No on 9" campaign which worked to continue the active promotion of homosexuality within our public schools.

The Beaverton Education Association gave $2,500 to the same cause. This is our tax money at work, folks. We pay teachers who are then mandated to pay mega dues annually to the teacher union. NEA/OEA then spends the dollars on liberal causes and candidates. Teachers do have a choice, however. In the Canby district, as well as some other districts, teachers may opt to give their dues money to a non-religious charity or other teacher union. The Association of American Educators is a rapidly growing union for teachers who hold conservative, traditional values (926012 Marguerite Pkwy.

#333, Mission Viejo, Calif. 92692). We should be equally concerned that the Oregon Public Employee Union spent $30,000 of our tax dollars to support "No on 9." Most of the several million dollars spent by "No on 9" to support indoctrination of our students to accept homosexuality as normal, came from out of state individuals and organizations.

But Planned Parenthood in Oregon, the grand sex education machine that pushes sex of any kind at any age for any reason, gave $71,684 to oppose the OCA effort to halt the open promotion of homosexuality to our children and teens. No wonder the homosexuals could afford the major network TV ad that contained three lies - that it is not happening, that it would halt AIDS education and that teachers who mentioned homosex could be fired.

And so now, we Oregonians have to go through the whole process once more with a new initiative that is basically lie-proof without being naive about the creative ability of opponents to find new lies. After all, how can they argue with the straight up truth that "We want to use the schools to promote our homosexual agenda."

This would not win with the public, even in liberal Oregon.
Pat Smith
Canby

New live talk show
will be informative

This is to announce a new live talk show on OCTS Channel 5. The show will be called "Canby Profiles," and will be presented the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. I will be the host and will invite guests to discuss issues and projects affecting the Canby community.

The first show, March 5, will feature a panel discussion on Canby's Urban Renewal District. It should be informative and may even be interesting.
Roger Harris
Canby

Evans would be a
good fit on board

We are writing to support Barbara Evans for School Board. We have known and worked with Barbara for more than 10 years, and know her to be vitally concerned about the quality of Canby schools.

In that time, we have seen her fight for issues she believed in and work to get others concerned as well. Most importantly, we have watched her ask questions both to get information and to make others think.

The Canby School Board is made up of concerned, caring and considering citizens, and Barbara Evans will fit right in.
Bob and Anne Jones
Canby