大女儿刚上大学四年级. 署假期间, 女儿参加了一个自愿自费的救援团，赴海地参加了两星期的震后救援工作。返校后在学校兼职工作。
假期在校时,有一天女儿无意间发现母校OSSM有困难。OSSM 是州立数理高中，是一所住读中学。全美国有几十所这样的高中，俗称天才中学，重点培养各州在数理方面持别优秀的学生。OSSM 是这类中学中办锝很出色的学校之一，该校学生曾多次代表美国队参加奥林皮克中学生竞赛并且成绩不俗。该校招生时，对华人子女也特别优待，这里贫穷落后, 全州华人人口所占比例很小, 但该校的华人子女却超过了百分之十。
目前由于经济不景气，本州许多议员认为该校培养的优秀学生，百分之九十去了外地名校，去了经济发达的地区，对本州的经济没什么帮助，因此大量削减对该校的投入，学校裁掉近一半的教师，学校将会步覆艰难。
看到学校的消息之后，女儿当晚就给该校负责人和州长办公室送去了一封信，信中表达了在外的学子们对毋校和家乡的热爰，也明确表达了对当局只看局部和眼前利益，砍教育促经济短视行为的看法，很快这封信就传到了州长，州政府教育部门, 议员,以及主要媒体负责人的手中 。
尽管孩子的看法仍有许多天真和不全面，文稿还要简练和完善, 孩子的观点也不一定能左右州长和议员们的决策，但能在第一时间就直率大胆地表达自己的意见,难能可贵。 看到孩子们健康成长,感到十分高兴,特别为孩子表现出的强烈的责任感和主人翁精神, 感到由衷的欣慰。
--------------- To the leaders of, In light of the recent budget cuts and layoffs at OSSM. I would like to share with you my experience as a student inin the hopes that I can convince you to change your mind about OSSM. Let me first introduce myself. My name is Brooke, I am a 20 year old student currently studying at. I am a Biomedical Engineer, with a minor in Chemistry and I am also pre-med. I grew up inmy entire life, and never left until college. I have always known I was a bright student, but I was always bored in school. By the time I reached high school, I was sleeping in all my classes, had become extremely disengaged, and stopped studying altogether. But the funny thing was, I was still making perfect grades. I believe the point I am stressing here is that school was always too easy for me. In my sophomore year, I received a note from the guidance counselor calling me to her office. She wanted to invite me into a pilot program. This program focused on preparing as many students as possible to become national merit scholars and also helped them get into college. For the first two weeks, the program was extremely helpful. They taught us about the ACTs, SATs, and college applications. I finally felt like I was getting somewhere with my education. But a few weeks into the program, it was shut down- by none other than the school’s principal. When asked why, the principal replied that the pilot program was “elitist” and the school would not tolerate such a thing. Perhaps this misguided judgment was a fluke, or perhaps it was a common occurrence in schools. I do not know. At that same high school, I had a classmate who decided to take a science course every semester on the block system, and a counselor, rather than encouraging him, said, “Whatever for? What will you have left to take your senior year?” It may just be me, but for a student to not take a class is because he/she will run out of classes to take by senior year just sounds absurd. Perhaps a better solution would have been to ADD MORE CLASSES. The overall attitude towards education at my local school played a large role in my decision to attend OSSM. At OSSM, Calculus I and II were just the beginning. At OSSM, for the first time in my life, I met people who were like me. People who were tired of how much their schools supported funding for sports and extracurricular, yet could not offer decent upper level math and science courses. At OSSM, I finally felt like I was being academically challenged. I was a part of TEAM+S, a national engineering competition, and we won national championships both years. I participated in numerous math competitions such as AIME and CML. These competitions are not even heard of in most high schools. I was also in student council. I was a National merit finalist and was named Presidential Scholar in 2007. By the time I graduated from OSSM, I had taken multivariate calculus, linear algebra, organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, and many more college level courses. And I am proud to say I aced them all. I am not implying that every school should strive for such high academic standards, but I am saying that one school inhas already reached this standard. Not everybody is fit for a school like OSSM, just like how not everybody throws a football like Sam Bradford or jumps like OU cheerleaders. But if we do not cultivate intelligence of all forms, then we are truly moving backwards. I remember hearing certain visiting congressmen say that OSSM is “a waste of resources”, and “we’re bringing up the best and brightest to leave the state rather than keeping them here”. But If you, leaders of Oklahoma, do not help to foster the minds of the best and brightest from your own state, then what makes you qualified to have the best and brightest help Oklahoma? If you do not devote the time and resources to promote the bright minds of, then I am willing to bet that other states are more than willing to take those people off your hands. If bright students are not given a chance to shine and show their potential, then you have just wasted your greatest resource yet. OSSM is the best educational advancement that has ever happened to the state of. My story is nothing out of the ordinary for students of OSSM. My best friend was accepted to every college she applied to including Duke,, and Vanderbilt. Numerous students have led schools such as Stanford and Yale into bidding wars over them. My friend at MIT began tutoring physics in his freshman year. Yes, not all OSSM students stay infor college. But you forget, when we leave, our families are still here. No matter where we go, our roots are still in. Many of us will make it back toyears from now, and when we do, our education makes us more than capable of leadinginto a bright future. But before we can come back, it is up to you, leaders of, to be the change you wish to see. And that begins with promoting exceptional educational institutions like OSSM. So the next time you have a meeting about budget cuts, I, as a resident of, ask that you reorganize your priorities and truly put education first. Sincerely Brooke L OSSM Class of 2007
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