The following letters were submitted recently to NewCanaanite.com.
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As summer comes to an end, I hope New Canaan voters have reached out to Fatou Niang to understand how incredibly passionate she is about our community including this and future generations.
New Canaan’s school’s excellence depends on the strength of our community and active leaders like Fatou. As a parent herself living in New Canaan for the past 17 years, she and her husband have raised two young men who grew up in our town and thrived in our public schools.
As one of New Canaan’s top real estate brokers, Fatou actively advocates for our town by bringing in new families who will continue to benefit from the strength of our school system.
Fatou’s philosophy of focusing on not just academics but the environment in which our children learn makes her a perfect choice to help her drive the strategy of the Board of Education in the future.
The unique challenges of the past year have required thought leadership to ensure the most immersive education possible whether in person, hybrid or remote. The uncertainty of the future will require a unique skillset who can act decisively and quickly to ensure our children are afforded the best educational opportunities possible.
When deciding on this slate of candidates on November 2nd, I strongly encourage New Canaan voters to vote for Fatou Niang for the Board of Education.
Rona Siegel
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I was disappointed to read the mischaracterizations of the Board of Ed platform, positions and experience of Julie Toal, Phil Hogan, Dan Bennett and Hugo Alves made by the Democrat BOE candidates in their recent Letter to the Editor and their 203Action/DTC surrogates on social media. Julie, Dan, Phil and Hugo are active and engaged members of the New Canaan community and have students spanning Saxe, elementary and preschools.
They all moved to New Canaan for the education and care about education in New Canaan just as much as anyone in town does. They will all have students in the district for decades to come so they are committed to ensuring the excellence of New Canaan schools, not just now, but well into the future. They bring skills in communication, leadership, data analytics, financial analysis, public policy, as well have strong volunteer ties to the community.
If one used service on a PTC as an exclusionary limitation, should any male have ever been elected to be on the Board of Education? It would have excluded excellent former BOE members like Jim Kucharczyk, Gene Goodman and Scott Gress, or even current Democrat member Brendan Hayes.
I encourage everyone to vote “Row B” for an excellent slate of candidates that possess the character and skills needed on the board of education. The Republican candidates’ platform of transparency, communication and accountability today helps to ensure the excellence of our schools will continue in the future. Their skills and focus on our children are so important right now for the continued excellence of our school district in the years and decades to come.
Joe Miller
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Argentinian statesman Mauricio Macri famously said, “There is more that unites us than divides us.” That sentiment seems particularly apt in New Canaan. Many New Canaanites chose the town for the world class education provided to our children at the public schools. And when we think about the approaching school board elections, the maintenance of this quality system should continue to unify us.
New Canaan currently has one of the nation’s best school districts and has had for decades. We are rated 2nd in the state by Niche with our teachers, academics, clubs and activities all scoring A+. When it comes to our schools, we are doing things right. We have achieved this through the relevant qualifications, skill sets and experience of our administration and school board.
If residents believe, as I do, that qualifications are key to continuing to deliver fantastic public schooling, then electing school board members who respect them is critical. For this reason, I am supporting Fatou Niang. I have known Fatou since she and her family moved here some 17 years ago. I can unequivocally say two things about her:
- What you see is what you get, there is no hidden agenda. Her one reason for running is to maintain the current lofty standards of our school system
- She takes an apolitical approach to learning, believing that listening, experience and data are the best tools to guide decision-making
Fatou has significant experience with working tirelessly to promote the good of our town. She serves on the boards of the YMCA, the library and is founder of S.T.A.R. I have no doubt she will bring the same leadership skills and intellect to the school board; I trust Fatou and her running mates (Penny Rashin, Jenn Hladick, Karen Willett, Janet Fonss and Erica Schwedel) to keep our BOE apolitical, focused on both our childrens emotional wellbeing and academic excellence and to ensure that our school environment is safe and inclusive for all students. I urge you to vote for them in November.
Regards,
Mike Rodgers
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The First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan is busy planning to welcome back members, friends and newcomers on “Rally Day,” September 12th at 10am. It’s been an interesting year for a new minister.
We are so thankful to have landed in such a welcoming church and community. I have loved getting to know the wonderful people of First Presbyterian Church who are committed to “live spiritually, love inclusively, learn continuously and leave a legacy.” We celebrate that everyone is on a spiritual journey, and welcome all to “come and see” what God is doing in our midst. This is also a thriving and vibrant town, with natural beauty and charm. My wife Kim works at Staying Put and we both are impressed with the fascinating mix of people that make up this wonderful community.
Despite the pandemic and challenges of COVID-19 protocols, we have welcomed new members and are seeing new opportunities for growth and flourishing as a church. I have also been welcomed and enjoyed the opportunity to serve in other community groups, like the Rotary and Exchange clubs of New Canaan, and I have been welcomed on the School House Apartment Board. It has been a privilege also to get to know the Historical Society, and work with the New Canaan Chamber Music organization to promote world-class music for our town. During the pandemic, we have also tried to welcome newcomers to the community with welcome bags with an encouragement to become involved in some way to seek a better life and fairer world for all.
We are seeing new people moving into the community and have reached out to young families with children. This summer we enjoyed a successful outreach to families with young children and dozens came to our “Fun Fridays”. We also renovated “Isaac’s Garden,” a ministry that we hope will grow in coming years as we are pursue eco-justice and what it means to care for all creation. It was lovely to see children outside enjoying our beautiful campus, picking vegetables, enjoying musical moments, and having fun while giving their parents a break.
We are cautiously hopeful that the fall will be another opportunity to welcome new people into the church and to engage in service to the larger community. We will be offering another confirmation class for youth 13 years old and up, and we welcome people of all ages to join us for Rally Day, September 12th at our 10:00 worship service. We’ll celebrate regathering after summer vacations with grilled hot dogs, games on the lawn, and free rides on the firetruck Old Faithful, an icon in New Canaan.
We are watching the COVID-19 numbers with concern like everyone else. Our town has been so vigilant and disciplined with vaccinations and masks. Talk about mission being an important part of the church agenda and how despite difficulties due to COVID we are still active in engaging a new season of mission and outreach. With the uncertainty of how this pandemic is going, we believe it is important for us to continue to care for one another and seek ways to continue to love our neighbors.
It’s been a difficult and challenging year, and so many of us had hoped that we would have the pandemic behind us. With the crisis in Afghanistan and Haiti, we are exploring concrete ways to reach out in love and compassion, and we trust, as Julien of Norwich famously said, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
The Rev. Scott Herr, First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan
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