People will try to convince you that your vote doesn’t matter. That it’s pointless to vote, or they simply do not care enough to vote. Those same people will turn around after an election and complain about how things are, which could have been avoided if they showed up at the ballot box. But there’s more to voting than who you’ll vote for in this upcoming presidential election. There is also more to voting than appointing your governor, representatives, senators, town council members, and Board of Education members, which are all important elections to vote in. But what constantly gets overlooked is the vote for the budget. This decides where the tax dollars go to. Some do not care where their tax money goes as long as they do not have to pay high taxes. This thought process is flawed because now we are at a point where taxes will go up even if our given budget is approved or not.

The important question to ask is where is my money going? Do my tax dollars go to something that I believe or not? Do you believe the Board of Education should be given a fair budget, to foster creativity in the students of Windsor Public Schools? Or do you believe that they don’t deserve your money and will take that energy outside of school and use it in a negative way? You cannot sit by and watch as the voting for our budget happens, and then get upset when you have to pay hundreds of dollars for your children’s AP Exams. Or when your child’s favorite teacher gets cut because the budget can no longer afford to pay for certain programs. Or when your child’s classes are cut and the things they enjoy about learning are gone. You cannot sit by and get upset after the fact. Now is the time to get upset. Now is the time to fight for our school system and the children in it. And if you claim that your priority isn’t the children in this town, then you will be deeply mistaken. Because we are the children who will come of age and vote you out. We are the children who will run this town in the next decades. Who will decide if the things you love are worthy of getting the money you do not deem necessary to the public school system?

If I were you I would take gentle care of the children in this town. But I am not you. And I do not have the privilege that you do to vote. You get to make the choice that impacts my life. This year I could not take the Yearbook class because last year’s budget cut it out of the class options. It would now become a club. So to ensure that our senior class had a great yearbook I joined the club. But as a varsity athlete, a High Honors student, and an undergraduate college applicant, there wasn’t much time with my other extracurricular activities to make the yearbook. Something had to give, I withdrew from the Varsity Swim Team. This was also the case with other students having to make the sacrifice of choice, resulting in only two students in the yearbook club. I had to endure long nights of editing and organizing to meet our deadlines. This is an increasing issue because if I hadn’t taken on such a large role then there would not be a 2024 yearbook. Parents would be upset, and sponsors who support the Windsor High School yearbook would not be pleased. Last year’s budget cut removed a class that cut into my senior Varsity experience. As if that wasn’t enough the Creative Movement class was also struck. Leaving the past-loving students to take it as an after school club and that’s if they had access to transportation. Without a teacher, the responsibility to guide creativity and choreography was left on the students. Cuts have already been made and now they want to cut more. What else do students have to give up? This should never be the case. Where creativity and excitement are taken from students because citizens didn’t vote to support them.

Vote to support me. Vote YES to support students like me and children looking forward to school because they see the caring teachers who will always be there when things get rough. Don’t listen to the people who tell you voting on the town budget does not matter. The last vote for the budget was 1,023 YES to 1,027 NO. If you tell me that your vote doesn’t matter then you clearly are not paying attention. So the same budget is being sent out again for our town to vote on. Because we believe that its residents will do what is right for its people and the children growing up in this town. It could be up to you and 3 of your friends to turn this vote around. That is all it takes to make a difference. People are always saying they can’t do anything in the grand scheme of things to make change. But here it is your chance to make a difference. Don’t apathetically sit by and do nothing. Vote YES on June 18th.