.png)
My name is Gracee Cooper and I am a proud Grizzly alumni. I attended K-12 through Newport School District and I have just started my second year working at Stratton Elementary. I have seen from a student and staff perspective of how helpful the Education Programs and Operations levy can be to a school district. Levy dollars support critical funding needed within the school system.
Newport School District has so many great educational and extracurricular programs that will benefit from this upcoming levy. Many of these programs shape students futures and teach them how to be team players. The bond proposes much needed renovations and upgrades to our high school. These upgrades are needed to keep our campus safe and to ensure that our students are able to be the best they can be within a classroom.
The levy and bond work together not only for our students now, but for our students for years to come. I strongly recommend voters to vote YES for kids. Support our kids and keep our schools safe!
Gracee Cooper Newport
Listen to their stories
We all love stories. Stories of creation, family stories, historical stories, fictional stories, and most of all the stories of our beliefs. Haven’t you noticed that each of us has our own beliefs and when confronted with an aspect that doesn’t fit in, we don’t question our beliefs, we automatically discard the new aspect?
“Stories of beliefs? But those aren’t stories, those are truth!”
Where do our stories come from? Do they come from personal experience, contemplation, and curiosity? Or do they come from media, reinforced by the authorities we admire and the folks we hang out with?
This is an important question because one avenue is more authentic, and presents itself quietly, while the other avenue is a direct result of active propaganda and is loud and aggressive. Can you tell the difference between the two within yourself?
How about trying an experiment? Take one of your deeply held beliefs and find a friend that believes the opposite. Take them to tea and authentically inquire about their story. Be curious, ask questions, let them do the talking. Then contemplate on all you learned. May these simple efforts deepen the quality and increase the possibilities of each of our stories.
Stacy Cossey Priest River
Keep politics in proper place
In recent years, our public conversations have grown increasingly heated, especially when certain political figures are mentioned. It has reminded me of how doctors describe the progression of an illness: not as a medical diagnosis, but as a useful metaphor for how unchecked political obsession can spread
