Letters-July 6, 2006

LPS staff want

contract settled
To the editor:
   The Lambertville Teachers Association would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the parents and community members who supported us at last week’s Board of Education meeting.
   We are also very grateful to all those who have called and sent letters and e-mails.
   It is never easy to come before the board to publicly express our frustration, however, the lack of progress in settling our contract necessitated this action.
   After two years of negotiation and an unsuccessful mediation, we felt we had no other option but to go public with our concerns. This September will mark the third year of negotiations and the second year of working with an expired contract.
   Settling the contract this summer would not only go a long way in restoring morale, but would also assist the staff in facing the changes and meeting the challenges of the new school year.
   We ask for your continued support. Rest assured the children of LPS will continue to receive the quality education that they deserve.

AFS needs

host homes
To the editor:
   AFS urgently needs your help.
   AFS Intercultural Student Exchange program is looking for a few good families to host an international student for one year.
   AFS students attend the local high school and become part of the family and the community. Families are needed for girls from Japan, Norway, Denmark, Belgium (French speaking) and Germany and for boys from Belgium (French), Thailand, Hong Kong and Paraguay.
   The family placement deadline is July 19 for students arriving the second week in August.
   If you are interested, please call or e-mail now!
   For the past school year, several local families opened their hearts and their homes to AFS students. They provide their AFS sons or daughters with a bed, meals, guidance and support.
   There are many types of host families — single parents, grandparents as well as two-parent households with small children, teenagers, or no children at home. Students come with their own spending money and medical coverage and participate as active members of their host families, schools and communities.
   AFS, formerly known as the American Field Service, is a worldwide nonprofit organization founded 59 years ago by World War I and II volunteer ambulance drivers who believed educational exchanges would help create world peace.
   Won’t you please consider participating in the AFS mission, which "works toward a more just and peaceful world by providing international and intercultural learning experiences to individuals, families, schools and communities through a global volunteer partnership?"
   Please e-mail Michelle Duafala at [email protected] or call her at (800) 876-2377, ext. 128.
   For more information about AFS, visit www.usa.afs.org.