Secretary's Column
By Dr. Rick Melmer
Department of Education
 Thoughts
from a 6th grader
As Secretary of Education, I get
letters and e-mails from all types of constituents across
our state. For this article, I have reprinted one of the
more unique letters that I received recently. I didn’t get a
return address with this letter, so I decided to do a public
response for JP’s benefit.
Dear JP:
Thanks for your letter. It is always nice to hear from one
of our customers. My guess is that you would be able to find
many of your friends that would agree with your desire for
“less school.” By the end of the school year, there may be a
few teachers that would agree with you as well!
If you weren’t in school, you probably would have stronger
bodies. However, you would have weaker minds. Which is more
important? As for riding bikes, swimming and playing
outside, I can think of about five months out of our year
when that would be a challenge. During the winter months, we
could probably open our gymnasiums for you, but the teachers
would then expect you to stop by the classroom to pick up
some homework.
The last part of your letter makes it sound like school is
really boring. But, it doesn’t have to be. There are many
learning activities that can be fun and educational at the
same time. Our teachers try to make learning fun, but
actually fun is what you should have AFTER you have learned
all day at school.
Your letter has given me something to think about, but my
decision has been made. We will have school again starting
this fall. You don’t realize it now, but you need it. You’ll
be in school for about 1,000 hours this year, but you’ll
have about 2,000 hours outside of school for fun and games.
Thanks for your feedback, and good luck in 6th grade!
Rick Melmer
Secretary of Education
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