Acknowledging the impact

of pandemic on students

My name is Maya Eichorn, and you may have recently seen me on the cover of this newspaper. I would like to first thank the staff of this paper for their incredible work and very kind decision to highlight the achievements of my colleagues and me. Secondly, I would like to acknowledge that I am writing this letter for personal reasons, and nothing I say is connected to my roles with the League of Women Voters of Maine or the United States.

My time at Kennebunk High School will always be remembered fondly. However, this newspaper’s headline acknowledging me as a “KHS grad” is false. My time at KHS ended in the spring of 2022 when I filed paperwork to drop out of high school. I took the HiSET test before beginning my higher education journey at York County Community College.

I will always be grateful to the incredible teachers at KHS, who made my time there so fun, and the staff in their guidance office, who always supported me through my struggles. But, I think it is crucial to publicly acknowledge my having dropped out because it reflects the path that so many students took during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the first two years of my high school journey, I struggled with mental health issues. These were exacerbated when, in the spring of my sophomore year, KHS shut down. I put an immense amount of energy into engaging with online classes, but, at the time, I was not capable of continuing my education online.

After a lot of time put into mental health treatment and a few crucial interventions by people I will always be thankful for, I am now thriving. I graduated from YCCC this past spring with a 4.0 GPA and as the president of its Student Government Association. This fall, I will start as a junior at Emerson, studying journalism.

While my path is not the most conventional, it is all too common among people my age, and one that needs to be further normalized. It is OK if high school isn’t for you. It is OK to go to a community college or to not attend college at all. No one should feel shame for struggling in their education, and everyone should know that it is possible to get past that point and excel.

Maya Eichorn

Kennebunk

Issue is appropriate

time and place

Alarmists employ obfuscation rather than facts.

Regarding the series of letters in response to Tom Moyer’s well thought out and reasoned letter referring to a book at the Kennebunk High School which contains several overly graphic depictions of underage sex acts; At no point does Tom ask or call for book banning, and yet several respondents to that initial letter raise this hue and cry. At issue is appropriate time and place.

Another recent letter writer stated that Tom had said that the book was in the KHS library, which he did not, and this most recent writer proudly claimed him to be a liar. Tom had shared that the book was at the high school, but didn’t say it was in the KHS library.

It is, however, very common and almost sophomoric for decriers of inconvenient truths to employ the tactic of hiding or ignoring facts in support of thinly veiled opinion.

Rodney Sparkowich

Arundel