Principal Letter

July 24, 2009

Dear Principal Smith,

Earlier today in second period, Mr. Horton assigned my class a project where we have to research a current event. He, however, has restricted our use of Internet resources. I have chosen to research the squandering of North Carolina taxpayers money. I am focusing my research in the area of the current congressional session in which our legislators are creating, revising, and trying to pass a State budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. My dad said that he doesn’t understand how “those big Whigs in Raleigh are wasting millions every day, sitting around talking about my money, when people are losing their jobs left and right.” I would like to know more about the details of this session, its purpose, and specific daily costs of these extended sessions.

It is imperative that I be able to use online resources to locate the information in which I am looking. Sites via the Internet provide the most current and up-to-date information. Since this is a current events assignment, I ask how can the class be restricted from using the best tool for the job, at no cost or much extra effort to the school?

I do understand that there are websites out there that could be biased since this is a controversial issue dealing with the government and finances. It will be necessary for me to use an evaluation tool to assess the resources that I come across so that I will be able to collect factual answers to my questions. I have chosen to use a tool from http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/webcrit.html. Using this will allow me to use research from quality sites.

Ms. Smith, please do not get Mr. Horton in trouble! He is a great teacher and everybody loves to go to his class. I would just like to be able to use the best tool for the job that also keeps me an engaged and motivated middle school student. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Melissa Hamm
6th Grader