As graduates of San Juan Island public schools and recent college graduates, we’d like to ask you to vote yes for the renewal of the school district Capital Projects and Technology Levy.

We are grateful for the excellent education provided to us by San Juan Island schools, which enabled us to go on to undergraduate and graduate school. In college, we realized the importance of technology education in primary and high school.

Our college peers tended to have had earlier access to advanced math classes, computer programming courses, and hands-on science programs that gave them an advantage in the university setting. Unless our students on San Juan Island are given the tools early on to keep up with technology, they will fall behind their peers in future academic settings.

One portion of the upcoming levy provides funds to develop space at the elementary school for STEM activities, allowing students to start using technology at a young age, and all the way through their school careers.

The levy will also provide for replacement of aging computers, and training and support to teachers in using the new equipment, all of which are vital to the STEM education of San Juan Island students.

We’ve found that STEM education can provide many benefits later in life outside of traditional STEM settings, including helping to develop critical problem-solving and communication skills, in addition to providing the tools to succeed in an increasingly digital world.

Pablo Lopez,

FHHS Class of 2009

Hannah Snow,

FHHS Class of 2010