From JJ Day and Trevor Scott
Doug Berg is retiring. This is a fact. Other changes will also happen. This is inevitable.
Many people are worried that Mini-School is doomed. That it will become like mainstream. That it will become rows of desks and learning packets. That there will be no more trips. That teachers will be “Mr.” or “Mrs.” That students will become “student #1” and “student#2.” That Mini-School will no longer be a family.
We asked ourselves, “What will it take to keep Mini-School going as strong as it has?” The answer is us.
Doug has always said, “Mini-School, first and foremost, is the students!” Now is our opportunity for us to act on this responsibility! We, as students, need to do our part and keep the program alive. We need to carry out the traditions of Mini-School, so in the years to come other students will have the same opportunities that we’ve had.
People who feel they owe something to Mini-School now have the opportunity to help keep it alive. It may just take a letter, or a phone call, or even an appearance at a school board meeting, expressing the importance of the Mini-School Program. We would like to see Mini-School continue being successful, even after Doug retires.
To those who want to see Mini-School succeed, think of what it has done for everyone who has been a part of it. Now is the time to give Mini the tools it needs to keep going successfully. The things it needs to keep the trips program and the traditions of Mini going for another thirty years.
Think about it! Mini-School has helped all of us in such huge ways that most of us can’t even put it into words. Please remember that, and try to it give back to the program we all love so much. You know it would be worth it.