Russell Williams
Well-Known Member
I sent this to the local newspapers and to the senior staff at the local board of ed. If any of you have children that walk to school you might have a special interest in it.
To whom it may concern:
A complement to a Bester Elementary School staff member who was willing to take a personal risk in order to protect children.
Some of you may remember when I was on the elected board and telling people that there was poison ivy on the path between Frederick Street and Bester Elementary School. Today, using that path, I rode my tricycle from Frederick Street to Bester. The poison ivy has come back. There was one place where it would be very easy for a student to brush their shoulder against poison ivy and another where I had to duck my head to prevent my head from touching the poison ivy hanging down from a limb.
I went to Bester and reported this to the principal of the school. She sent a custodian to go with me so that I could show him where the problem areas were. He told me that he was allergic to poison ivy. When we got to the part where the poison ivy was hanging down and would perhaps be brushing against children who would soon be walking home, using his bare hands, he kept breaking poison ivy branches until the remaining poison ivy was so high that it would be unlikely to touch any of the childrens heads.
I reminded him that he needed to wash his hands very carefully perhaps using dishwashing detergent from the kitchen.
I would not have broken that poison ivy with my bare hands. In order to protect the children he took a risk that I was not willing to take. I believe that his action deserves to be complemented by his superiors.
Yours truly,
Russell Williams
To whom it may concern:
A complement to a Bester Elementary School staff member who was willing to take a personal risk in order to protect children.
Some of you may remember when I was on the elected board and telling people that there was poison ivy on the path between Frederick Street and Bester Elementary School. Today, using that path, I rode my tricycle from Frederick Street to Bester. The poison ivy has come back. There was one place where it would be very easy for a student to brush their shoulder against poison ivy and another where I had to duck my head to prevent my head from touching the poison ivy hanging down from a limb.
I went to Bester and reported this to the principal of the school. She sent a custodian to go with me so that I could show him where the problem areas were. He told me that he was allergic to poison ivy. When we got to the part where the poison ivy was hanging down and would perhaps be brushing against children who would soon be walking home, using his bare hands, he kept breaking poison ivy branches until the remaining poison ivy was so high that it would be unlikely to touch any of the childrens heads.
I reminded him that he needed to wash his hands very carefully perhaps using dishwashing detergent from the kitchen.
I would not have broken that poison ivy with my bare hands. In order to protect the children he took a risk that I was not willing to take. I believe that his action deserves to be complemented by his superiors.
Yours truly,
Russell Williams
