Meany Middle School -- Gertie And Ron Vannoy Merit Praise For Their Team-Teaching

Re: The May 17 editorial "Don't scrap what works in fixing Seattle schools."

Your gutsy editorial concerning the break-up of the fantastic Vannoy team at Meany Middle Schools is commendable. Thank you for taking on their cause and for supporting what is very good about the Seattle Public Schools.

My husband and I have sent six children through the Seattle Public Schools. Of all the teachers who have taught our children, the Vannoys stand out as the best of the best!

For 25 years, they have taught a sixth grade class that included Spectrum students and "regular" kids, believing both groups of students would learn from the other. Their children were the students in their classroom. As a couple, they nurtured these young adolescents, both in school and after school. While most married couples plan and obsess about their own children, Gertie and Ron Vannoy are at home discussing the well-being of the children in their classroom, and many past children who have come through their door.

Our 24-year-old son still calls the Vannoys with all the important announcements in his life - his marriage, the birth of his son, his excitement in being accepted at an arts school. They are genuinely interested in his life, and there must be so many other lives they continue to care about.

With a divorce rate of 50 percent, don't our children deserve to be exposed to teachers like the Vannoys who show us the best of what a married couple can offer? The Vannoys teach as a team.

If they choose to leave Meany Middle School, another school will receive a fortune of a lifetime! Kudos to Gertie and Ron - thank you for 25 years of great teaching and great caring! Mary Ellen Haley Seattle