PYP: Through a student's eyes

My name is Brea McDonald and I am a seventh-grader at Canfield Middle School. I attended Hayden Meadows first through fifth grade, and loved the Primary Years Programme that we were so privileged to learn.

I have always been an outgoing person, and I was never afraid to be myself through elementary school. Though last year, I went through a struggle. I was emotionally bullied and came home in tears every day. I then became quiet, shy and blended in with the crowd. After what has been the hardest year of my life, I remembered PYP. I remembered how I was shown to be a risk-taker and to be myself. Now, every moment, I am thinking about PYP and how to be open-minded, principled and tolerant.

I read the article in the newspaper about PYP and Tom Hamilton (Sept. 19). I read about how a teacher told his daughter that if her parents take her to church, they’re teaching her to believe in “ghosts and fairy tales.” I find that hard to believe. I was at Hayden Meadows for five years, not once did I hear a teacher tell a kid their religion was fake.

My brother is still attending Hayden Meadows and I want to see him taught the method that saved me. Please consider this letter and what PYP means to me, the Hayden Meadows students, and the other HMS alumni at Canfield.

BREA McDONALD

Hayden Lake