MAILBAG:

I am not sure who made the decision to run the anonymous quote regarding TeWinkle School start times, but I believe the Daily Pilot owes all the students and families at TeWinkle Middle School a front page apology.

I was outraged that such falsehoods would be printed in something other then the National Enquirer or some unknown blog site.

To print such a comment as if it were fact, by a “Past-TeWinkle Parent,” is not only false but borderline slander.

The simple fact that the person wasn’t willing to put their name behind their comment should have been your first clue that you probably should think twice before printing such trash.

As a current TeWinkle parent, and very proud to say so, we work very hard every day to bring our community together.

We work to reach across not only socio-economic lines, but cultural as well.

Most of us believe you can’t simply move away from the difficult problems facing our communities, you have to stay and work them out each and every day.

Any parent or teacher will tell you the junior high years are probably the most difficult, as children grow into young adults seemingly overnight.

A transition time made even more difficult by the ignorance, prejudice and sheer stupidity of a limited few in our community.

I wonder what others in the community would say if I were to write about the rampant drug use at XYZ school, or the constant cheating and plagiarism at the ACME Academy.

I wonder what people would say?

I am sure they would be just as outraged as I was that a respectable paper like the Daily Pilot, that has such a long history of serving our community, has fallen so far in its stature and reputation that it would print every unsubstantiated statement or accusation that comes its way.

I would hope the people would realize what a great community we live in: Costa Mesa.

We should all be thankful for the great teachers, faculty and staff at TeWinkle Middle School.

But most importantly we should be thankful for all these great kids with whom God has entrusted us to do all that we can to help them achieve their dreams.

ROBERT KNAPP

Costa Mesa

HOW TO GET PUBLISHED

Mail to the Daily Pilot, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Send a fax to (714) 966-4667 or e-mail us at [email protected]. All correspondence must include full name, hometown and phone number (for verification purposes). The Pilot reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity and length.