Dear editor,

My wife and I grew up in this area, graduated from high school in Lehighton and had our four children have successful educations and careers as a result of their education.As a teacher, counselor, coach and administrator I served the district for 33 years from 1956-1988, and have remained close to the district for the 26 years that I have been retired.This district and community are dear to me and I serve the community in many ways, in church, veterans organizations, as a hospital volunteer, and other organizations as well.The one important aspect of my career was that I was a student advocate. That is what made my experiences in the Lehighton district so wonderful.The years I served the board, superintendent, administration, staff and school personnel also were all about developing programs to keep all of our students serviced, and we were very successful our students were able to go on to be very successful in their endeavors in life.Now we are at a pivotal time in our educational program. I was around when Mahoning, Franklin and East Penn were built as a part of the county system. It was an important time for them 60 years ago. Now something has to be done to rebuild.So it is very apparent, as I have followed this development, that Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver and the board have an excellent handle on how to continue the outstanding educational experiences for the students in the Lehighton Area School District.Cleaver is a good superintendent and he has done an excellent job of developing a good educational outlook and has been transparent and up front on what the costs are going to be as best as he can in this long, evolving process.Cleaver and the board, in looking at a center versus four buildings, make a great deal of sense both educationally and economically. As an educator who was very student conscious, a center gives you the flexibility of having all of the students of a grade level in one building and developing programs for their needs.Any technology available can be provided in one building, whereas it would be more costly to have to provide it in four separate buildings. This center allows for a flexible educational plan economically it is very simple one building to maintain versus four buildings to maintain. As for a fear of size for a center, we are still a small district. Your children will still know many other people in their grade level.Most of you who read this article will know me because I grew up with you, taught you or your children, worked with you, and you know my point of interest was and still is on the well-being of the children and people of Lehighton Area School District.You know me to be honest, concerned and care about the students of this district, and that is why I feel so strongly that it is important for this community to support Cleaver and the board in their plan.I know very little about the people who are creating trouble in regard to the project. However, I can see that they care little about the education of the students or the school district.Their statements show that they lack the knowledge of what makes a good educational program and even their economic ideas of four buildings versus one building does not make much sense.James H. WentzLehighton