Opinion: Recognizing the efforts to upgrade STHS
Publisher’s note: The following letter was sent to Lake Tahoe Unified School District Superintendent Jim Tarwater and is published with permission.
Dear Dr. Tarwater:
My wife and I were among the many proud people you addressed at the grand opening of the Tahoe Arts & Design Academy.
We’ve lived here over 10 years, have one grandchild presently attending high school and another who soon will be. And though I earn my living as a writer and creative professional, words and ideas to express what you have created do not come easily.
I’m aware of the numerous board, staff and team members that worked together to make this dream become a reality. And I’m aware of the thicket of governmental issues you all had to wade through to keep this project on course, on time and on budget.
But at the end of the day, you were the driving force behind it. You were the agent of change. And you are the one who, to your eternal credit, re-opened the Meyers Elementary School and did so in record time. That was when I first became aware of your propensity toward pragmatic and your focus on creating positive change.
What South Tahoe High is now offering is an opportunity of immeasurable proportions.
It’s an enlightened portal to the real world. A portal capable of opening minds, inspiring lives and getting students excited about learning. And it’s all encased in a stimulating environment positively charged with possibilities.
For those interested in the creative arts, the new theater and its ancillary elements are nothing short of amazing. As someone who has spent endless hours, days and weeks in film production and post-production around the country and the world, I’m thrilled to have this creative learning center in our backyard.
At a time when our local economy is so difficult, with homes being foreclosed and jobs becoming scarcer, it was wonderful to be in a setting that was so upbeat, and hopeful.
We now have a campus that offers our kids the very best and challenges them to take it and make the most of themselves. Whichever direction they want to head, it’s all here and it’s state of the art. I only hope they realize what a valuable asset they have before them.
Thanks again for all that you and your team did. You have created far more than a series of structures. You have created a mind opening, life changing opportunity for our kids and an exciting new reason to be proud to call South Lake Tahoe home.
Sincerely,
James Barr, South Lake Tahoe
Speaking from a “multimedia” perspective, having ‘this creative learning center in our backyard’ may also offer its’ challenges as well, as the digital era can mean that the training received leads to an exodus of our youth, so the “ancillary” direction of local economic development needs to be included in the discussion, if it is not already. . .training our youth to move away (although good parents may indeed see this as a “necessity’, given the ongoing job market in Tahoe) can be mitigated by the possibility of an increased emphasis on nature, as it becomes a larger issue in the national educational perspective (such as the recently introduced (July 14th) bipartisan No Child Left Inside Act, which in turn leads to each states’ soon to be required Environmental Literacy Plan.
The science so often associated with Tahoe’s fabled clarity issues can be expanded into multi-media learning experiences to share with the world, on Tahoe’s economic behalf, in recognizing that Tahoe’s issues are duplicated in so many other places, that will need to be better and further understood.
This would assure economic growth for the community, instead of the exodus mentioned above – and encourage storylines above and beyond the current ‘crash & burn’ tendencies of the Hollywood box-office set. . .i.e., Pixar participation versus “blockbusters”, as society will need it to progress beyond the superficial. . .
Beyond the ‘editorial’ above, I agree that Dr. Tarwater and the Board are to be commended for the vision to proceed in an “abundant” direction amid so much “scarcity” thinking. . .
Looking forward to helping in ‘fruition’. . . as Executive Producer/Host of the Nurture/Nature/Network here in the Lake Tahoe Basin. . .
I consider Dr. Tarwater a visionary and progressive leader in our community. So often the attention is placed on the negative and it’s great James has written this well-deserved thank you letter to a true hero in our community.
James captured the essence of what many of us are thinking but didn’t take the time to write in a public format. Over the years, I’ve followed Dr. Tarwater and team as they’ve continued to implement on-the-ground results for our community. Their work has been a blessing and our students will benefit for years to come.
Just recently, I had the pleasure to meet Dr. Tarwater and thank him personally. I’m both grateful and impressed by what his leadership has given to families on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe.
James is exactly right that Dr. Tarwater has delivered “a portal capable of opening minds, inspiring lives and getting students excited about learning.”
Thanks for the encouragement, Jim! And on the note of Garry, as well, we can add to the enrichment of our youth creating additional edu opps here at the college. For instance, I talked at length today w/ a talented guy who has deep experience in the film/video game industry but is chilling in Tahoe for a break from its intensity. We talked about the potential of offering classes that continue the TADA experience and he got very excited about such a possibility since he has experience as a teacher and workshop instructor in this field. Getting our schools and this amazing amalgam of talent we call our community to line up the dots will go a long way toward keeping our youth here longer and perhaps even permanently IF we make the reasons and resources sufficient for releasing and encouraging their ingenuity.