Some Comments On A Poor Story And Good Teachers

To the Editor:

Friends and colleagues: If you read the article in The Bee [“Living By The Bell Of Newtown High School, 10/31/08] where I was quoted as saying that NHS “was acting more like it was a prison” and you said to yourself: “Wow, that doesn’t sound like Randi Kiely” — Well, that’s because it wasn’t. That comment and the phrase preceding it were pure inventions of the young and inexperienced reporter, presumably since my actual comments didn’t make good copy. Sadly, when I protested to the editor I was told that if the reporter had it in her notes, it must be true — case closed. And besides, he said, it wasn’t damaging enough to my reputation to warrant a retraction.

But even more sadly, the myriad of great things that I said about NHS in the 70s were likewise deemed not newsworthy. Which brings me to my point: I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of those things with you.

When asked if any of my NHS teachers had inspired me to become a teacher myself I said yes, may of them, but most notably Bob Dilzer — who retired in 1999. Since he had actually been to many of the places he talked about, he was able to share personal experiences and had developed great slide presentations (35 mm that is) that transported us to those exotic places. For him, lecture was an art form and he had mastered the amazing feat of keeping 35 teens spellbound for long intervals.

When asked if any of my former teachers were still around, I told her only two: Russ Weiss and Linda Buonagurio. I said I didn’t think it was a coincidence that two of my best teachers would have lasted so long in the profession since I remember them as having a great passion for the subject and really liking what they did. Although I no longer sit in their classes, from what I can see, this fact has never changed.

I also shared my great respect and admiration for today’s faculty as a whole. They work longer and harder than any outsider can imagine — and too often against all odds — to provide the quality education that they do.

I guess the feeling at The Bee is that stories like this just don’t sell papers. Nevertheless, consider yourselves to be publicly recognized.

Sincerely and in my own words,

Randi Kiely

18 Botsford Hill Road, Newtown                            November 8, 2008

(Editor’s note: Ms Kiely was informed in writing on November 5 that The Bee stood by its October 31 story and that “a fair reading of the article in question shows that your reputation has in no way been damaged.”)