To the editor:

I would like to give a shout out of praise to our local schools and the teachers who educate our children. They are doing an excellent job of empowering our children to think for themselves, seek truth and call out hypocrisy when it rears its ugly head.

I want to share how proud I am of one such high school student. She related an experience she had recently when she went to the Wing Point Country Club to get take-out for dinner.

While waiting for her order, she overheard Mr. James M. Olsen talking to a group of people saying that he supported an educational program. She then observed him walk up to another group and tell them he was opposed.

Taken aback by such blatant hypocrisy, she offered Mr. Olsen some free, unsolicited advice:

“I was completely annoyed since it was about the school system. So I got my food finally walked over to Mr. Olsen and told him that if he actually wanted to be elected he might want to support the school system because of how many parents there are on Bainbridge and how many teenagers there are who can vote against him and he started telling me I didn’t know my place. I told him he didn’t know his because he kept running for an office and hasn’t won one in how ever many years and then walked off. His face was priceless.”

In this exchange Mr. Olsen failed to recognize a perfect opportunity to clarify his position and educate the young woman about his stance on educational programs and funding. He missed an excellent opportunity to listen to a possible constituent and hear some sage advice.

Instead, he chose to brush her off rudely and dismissively. I strongly believe that if Mr. Olsen were elected into office, this pattern of behavior and total disregard for our young people and our public schools, would continue.

Please choose wisely in November. Our children depend on it.

ALI PERRY

Bainbridge Island