In Appreciation

To the Editor:

I would like to thank the good people of Newtown for coming out to support our Reed students in last week’s performance of Finding Our Way Home. Although it was the very end of the school year and the day after the high school graduation, Reed Intermediate School was filled with families, friends, and community members who gave our cast, chorus, and crew a warm and enthusiastic reception.

In addition to those students, teachers, friends, and supporters mentioned in the program, I want to thank three Reed students whose names were omitted, but who also deserve credit for the evening’s success. Matthew Argraves, Michael Biancardi, and Stephen Grasso kindly offered their expertise at the last minute to serve as our sound, lighting, and stage crew.

Our wonderful audience also contributed generously to the students, families, and staff of our pen pal school in Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana, West Africa. The money raised will assist our friends in the move back to their homeland of Liberia, and the establishment of a new school there. Your donations mean more than you can imagine, because this new school will provide much more than an education. On the heels of the Liberian civil war, Newtown’s gift will bring continuity, jobs, and stability — in a word, peace — to our friends in their “New Town.”

On behalf of everyone who will benefit from your support of this program both here and in Africa, a heartfelt “thank you.”

Sincerely,

Karen King

Teacher

Reed Intermediate School

3 Trades Lane, Newtown                                                 June 26, 2008