Open letter to Superintendent McKersie and Greenwich High School Headmaster Dr. Winters, November 30, 2015
Dear Superintendent McKersie, Headmaster Winters and Greenwich BOE,
We are the parents of a 10th grader who is a member of the Greenwich High School Symphony Band. We understand you have heard from many former and current GHS band parents and students in support of John Yoon to be reinstated as Band Director. Many of these people who have written or spoken in support of Mr. Yoon are accomplished musicians and musical prodigies.
Our son falls into neither of those categories and his musical abilities are mediocre, at best. Yet, Mr. Yoon and his colleague, Mr. Ben Walker, have worked with our son to ensure that he has improved in his musical skills and playing the instrument and most importantly, that he truly enjoys and appreciates his GHS band experience. He is more disciplined and practices more than he has in the past, and he feels pride in being a member of such an accomplished band as the GHS Band.
Our son will probably never play Carnegie Hall, but we truly believe that the musical and life instruction that he has received under Mr. Yoon and Mr. Walker will carry with him throughout his life. The lessons learned from both of these men has made him a better musician, a better student, and most importantly, a better person.
In our humble opinion, that is the sign of passionate, caring and effective instruction and we feel lucky that our son has had this quality instruction and mentorship from both Mr. Yoon and Mr. Walker. We strongly urge that Mr. Yoon be reinstated and allowed to continue to instruct, lead, and develop our children so that the lessons learned in the GHS Band continue to shape and develop them into responsible, mature and confident young people.
Sincerely,
Stacy and Gabriel Ochoa
Cos Cob, CT