TO THE EDITOR:

I'm pleased, very pleased to be a teacher at North Branch Middle School. My duties include 6,7 & 8th grade band and 7th grade general music. I joined the staff in August 2006.

The purpose for submitting this letter is share how I feel about the students at North Branch Middle School. I'm in my 30th year of teaching and the North Branch Middle School students are some of the finest that I've worked with.

Many friends and colleagues have asked me how things are going at North Branch. My reply has been "the staff is great, the administrators very supportive and the kids are off-the-chart nice." Yes...off-the-chart nice.

These students are helpful, cooperative and respectful. Of course there are some kids that are less than cooperative and respectful, but those students are very few and far between.

They handle being told "no" really well. Rarely do they pout or complain when things don't go their way. I'm describing a pretty good atmosphere. Yes, things are pretty good at NBMS.

For most of the kids, it doesn't even occur to them to be mean or nasty, talk back or take advantage of someone. The coolest thing about this is that the students treat each other really, really well. I see this happen every day.

I've been thinking a lot about "why". Why are the kids so cooperative and nice to be around? The initial reason why the kids are "off-the-chart nice" is the obvious strong and caring home environment. Another factor that has helped the kids is that really positive things are happening in the younger grades to help shape the kids. The last item which helps the kids is the effective staff and administration at North Branch Middle School which maintains the expectations for cooperation and treating others well.

I've asked some of the high school teachers if the kids are pretty good. Each H.S. staff member I've asked has confirmed that the students at the high school are really good. Wow.

The North Branch area can be very proud of their students.

Kudos to the kids.

Dave Enyart
North Branch Middle School