To the editor:

The vision of candidates for the Chuckatuck seat on the Suffolk School Board regarding school improvement varies from one to the other regarding student transportation, state Standards of Learning test results and teacher retention.

While each of those issues is equally crucial in developing and nurturing a child’s success, reading is essential, and it enriches a child’s imagination of life’s possibilities.

Dorothy Bland Gamble’s understanding of the importance of teaching all children to read very early (before third grade) is a key ingredient in increasing reading comprehension AND thereby developing the minds of our children. Instructional training in literacy can be accomplished in and out of the classroom by utilizing the many resources available, including adult organizations such as AARP, professional organizations and others, as well as student literacy tutoring. 
As Gamble has said, a “literacy campaign” to get students reading earlier will not only enhance their quality of life but invariably provide the gateway for achieving the above-mentioned and other much-needed improvements.

Additionally, as a product of Suffolk Public Schools, I can say that the curriculum-based programs focused on reading as a main component in developing our young minds, which was paramount to my lifelong love of reading and literacy tutoring.

I encourage Chuckatuck Borough voters to cast their ballots for Dorothy Bland Gamble for the Suffolk School Board.

Her vision of implementing a literacy campaign is clearly the better choice for Suffolk School Board.

Willette Brown

Virginia Beach