Robert Wheeler, Minot

Whenever I drive past a Minot elementary school and see “portable” classroom buildings on the grounds, my mind drifts back to my first grade experiences at Sunnyside School. At that time Sunnyside served only the first four grades in an old building that had seen better days. Because there were so many first graders enrolled, the existing school building couldn’t accommodate them all, and it was necessary to build a wood structure on the school grounds similar in appearance to our present-day portables.

I and some 25 other kids spent our first school year in that temporary structure, which lacked toilets, water fountains and other amenities. It was not a pleasant school year. For our second grade, we were “treated” to a move into the adjacent old brick and mortar structure. But that was nothing compared to my third-grade experience when my parents, my younger brother and I moved to a new home on “South Hill,” and we two boys matriculated to a handsome six-grade building, Washington School, which, in addition to pleasant classrooms for all, had such other welcome features as a music room and a gymnasium with a full-sized basketball court.

Today, Minot has already seen a significant increase in enrollment in its schools, and we expect greater increases over the next few years. Our students need far better facilities than portable classrooms and crowded schools. I urge the voters of Minot Public School District to vote “yes” at the upcoming December bond election to give our youngsters accommodations as good as (or even better than) those enjoyed by students in other school districts around the state. They deserve no less.