This month, Mike Rossi, a Philadelphia father, pulled his
two kids out of school for a couple days so they could watch him run the Boston
Marathon. The school had different thoughts though. They called it an
“inexcusable absence,” apparently thinking that they get to have the final say
in family vacations. Above is picture of the letter they received.
Naturally, Mike had some things to say. This was his
response:
Dear Madam Principal,
While I appreciate your concern for our children’s education,
I can promise you they learned as much in the five days we were in Boston as
they would in an entire year in school.
Our children had a once-in-a-lifetime experience, one that
can’t be duplicated in a classroom or read in a book.
In the 3 days of school they missed (which consisted of
standardized testing that they could take any time) they learned about
dedication, commitment, love, perseverance, overcoming adversity, civic pride,
patriotism, American history culinary arts and physical education.
They watched their father overcome, injury, bad weather, the
death of a loved one and many other obstacles to achieve an important personal
goal.
They also experienced first-hand the love and support of
thousands of others cheering on people with a common goal.
At the marathon, they watched blind runners, runners with
prosthetic limbs and debilitating diseases and people running to raise money
for great causes run in the most prestigious and historic marathon in the
world.
They also paid tribute to the victims of a senseless act of
terrorism and learned that no matter what evil may occur, terrorists can not
deter the American spirit.
These are things they won’t ever truly learn in the
classroom.
In addition our children walked the Freedom Trail, visited
the site of the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre and the graves of several
signers of the Declaration of Independence.
These are things they WILL learn in school a year or more
from now. So in actuality our children are ahead of the game.
They also visited an aquarium, sampled great cuisine and
spent many hours of physical activity walking and swimming.
We appreciate the efforts of the wonderful teachers and
staff and cherish the education they are receiving at Rydal Elementary School.
We truly love our school.
But I wouldn’t hesitate to pull them out of school again for
an experience like the one they had this past week.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Michael
Rossi
Father
Sources: higherperspectives.com