My name is Emilia, and I am a ninth grader in the OCEAN alternative learning program. I am on the PTHS girls swim team, I play viola in the orchestra, I am a proud member of OCEAN’s Bravo Team at the Maritime Center, and I am a volunteer in the community. My life is full and I am content.
This week, we learned the school district plans to eliminate our high school program.
There are many reasons why students choose OCEAN. For me, the regular school never felt right. It was chaotic, with too many distractions, and I was unhappy. OCEAN and NWMC have allowed me to grow and build so much confidence and strength. As an OCEAN student, you’re taking charge of a big part of your life, and it makes you feel capable. I manage much of my own learning time (outside of the OCEAN classroom), set my own goals and hold myself accountable for my learning. There is a freedom in knowing you can do that. I look at other OCEAN students who I grew up with in regular school, and their confidence has grown, too. We all seem to feel so much better about ourselves and about life than we did. It is hard to explain the difference in words. I am so grateful for this program.
The district is trying to force us back into PTHS. So many students like me simply cannot, and will not go. They will be left with nothing.
I have to do everything I can to fight the district and save my school because it has many future lives to change. Please help us, Port Townsend. If you speak out and call the school board members, email them and show up for the virtual board meeting on May 7, you can save OCEAN.
Emilia Ramsey
Port Townsend
