I am proud to call Newton my home, and if you agree, I expect you will also vote “yes” for the school bond on Sept. 13. My family and I moved to Newton a little over two years ago now, and we’re excited to have our 4-year-old daughter and 5-month-old son grow up to be Cardinals. In fact, the morning I drove down to Newton to interview for a science teaching position, I made sure to arrive early. I wanted to check out the town to better understand the community. I had never been in a community that backed their schools so much. I had never seen so many Cardinals painted underneath bridges, on walls, on water towers, or on the sides of buildings and all of this was visible before driving by any of the schools.
After exploring the town for a while, I still had time to talk to some Newtonians (I’m now excited to call myself a Newtonian). There was a sense of excitement displayed by the people that I spoke to. Whether they had children in school and are proud of the teachers that taught their children or commuters who worked in Des Moines but were happy to call Newton home, I knew that Newton was the place for me. Everyone I spoke to felt that Newton was going to pick itself up and again become the community it once was, if not better. I knew after speaking to these people that I needed this job. I needed to be a part of this community. Everything I heard and saw in the community reaffirmed this desire. I wanted to move here with my family, believing that something big was going to happen to Newton, and I wanted to be a part of it.
I’m proud I received the job and now work with one of the hardest working school districts and staff in the state. I’m proud to wear red and black not just on game day, but as often as I can. I’m proud to say my family and I have absolutely no plans to move anywhere else because our Newton Pride runs so deep. I’m proud to say I’m going to vote “yes” for a new middle school on Sept. 13. Not because I work for the school district, but because I want the best for both our children and our community.
Andy Kuker
Newton