No More Strings
To the Editor:
The strings program at Botelle, which will be eliminated from the curriculum next year, was something that made our little school stand out. My ten-year-old son started playing violin in second grade music class, then entered Liz Allyn’s string program in fourth grade. He loved it and had recently picked up cello as well.
We’re saddened by the loss as he enters his final year at Botelle.
In an age of iPhones, tablets and video games, which more and more studies are saying can be detrimental to a child’s health, exposure to music is something that, as parents, we’ll never regret offering our children.
My son will be fine. He’s been attending concerts since he was in the womb, and we are fortunate enough to be able to set up private lessons if we choose to. But what about the families that can’t afford that? Or families who work nights and can’t attend recitals at the Music Shed? Or children who would have otherwise never had the opportunity to place their fingers on a string instrument, let alone learn to play one?
As a town that boasts to tourists and out-of-towners about having the Yale School of Music and Infinity Hall, we have sadly taken another creative and cultural opportunity away from our youngest residents.
With the town needing to make budget cuts, an elementary school strings program may seem silly or even frivolous to some, but to many local kids it was a chance to learn something new and beautiful. Sadly, some of these kids may never have that opportunity again.
—Kailyn Nadeau
The Deer in Barbour Woods
Last month, Norfolk Now published a story about a fawn’s carcass mysteriously found in a tree in Barbour Woods, raising the possibility that a mountain lion had stashed it there. One of our readers put that theory to rest after hearing from a person directly involved. During the course of a dog walk, that person discovered a dead fawn on the ground and lifted it into the tree to put it out of the dog’s reach. As DEEP wildlife biologist Paul Rego guessed, human agency was responsible. In this case, it wasn’t a mountain lion . . . but it doesn’t mean there aren’t mountains lions.
—Ed.
