After this fall break, Tawnie Fotter, (affectionately known by her students as Ms. T), will no longer work at Vanguard Classical School. Not because of anything she did, but because uncontrollable circumstances have taken her out of state, where she will be unable to teach in person as we move into our hybrid model of learning.

If the school is allowing students to make the decision on whether to stay in-person or remote, then teachers and other employees of the school should have the same luxury.

Rather than dismissing Ms. T as a teacher due to circumstances beyond her control, the school administration should be more focused on finding a way to keep such a valuable asset. This could be achieved through the following:

~We could learn from her only on the days that our respective cohorts are remote.

~On the days that we’re in-person, we can join her remotely from the school building. The issue of adult supervision arises with this, but if we are able to have off-periods in-person, then couldn’t we just use the same practice for this?

Those most impacted by this are Ms. T and the students, which is why we are reaching out to the administration. The removal of Ms. T from the staff would result in not only jeopardizing her livelihood and stability during these already uncertain times, but also potentially jeopardize the mental health and performance of her many students.

As our senior thesis teacher, Ms. T has been one of the most important mentors offered to the class of 2021 as we’ve started off our senior year remotely.

The loss of such a fundamental resource, especially this far into the year, could greatly damage our mental health. The bonds we have made with her are lasting. She provides an irreplaceable support system to the students she teaches and even to those who aren’t in her class. Losing her as our teacher would be truly devastating.

We’ve already had our “normal” senior experiences taken away, please don’t take one of our best teachers away, too.

We, the Vanguard Classical School Class of 2021, along with our peers of different grade-levels, petition to keep Ms. T as our teacher for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year.