To the Editor:

I believe they should offer photography and sports medicine. I would like to have these classes because they seem intriguing and interesting to learn. Also, they teach sports medicine in 10th through 12th grade.

In this class, you would learn athletic training and also learn parts of the human body, which could be important if you were looking for a career in sports like a physical trainer, coach or as a professional athlete.

Photography is a skill used in many careers. Photography can teach people how to express their feelings through photos instead of art. This class could teach the students how to be creative. This would also help in careers like a professional photographer or artist, or you could learn this if you would like to do photography as one of your hobbies.

Critics argue these classes should not be taught in middle school. The reason they don't teach these subjects in middle school is because people think they should not teach this at such a young age and also because in art class we learn other skills not including photography.

In health, we only learn parts of the body as they are preparing us for those classes in the future.

I still argue we should learn these skills in middle school. Yes, it might be at a young age but if we learn them now, they could help us start thinking about our future and our interests. These two classes, photography and sports medicine, would be so intriguing and interesting to learn and would be very useful in our future careers.

Ryann Thomson

Salisbury Middle School

To the Editor:

As a student, I am forced to take many courses, even some that might not be as important as other topics not taught.

We should learn more subjects in school not available because it may help us when we pick a career to learn about or help us personally. A topic that should really be taught is mental health and empathy.

Just learning about bullying isn't really helping students because mental health is not only about bullying. It could be ourselves, our families, anything that has happened bringing us down.

Mental health should teach us how to handle stress, anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. It could also help us by supporting us.

We should learn about empathy in addition to mental health.

Empathy could show us how to help other people and express our feelings to others. Learning about empathy could actually be useful when you are guiding someone in a tough situation because you know what to do and how they might react.

Another subject many might be interested in is acting. Acting is a great way to get your feelings across in many ways. Such as, role play.

Photography is similar to acting just revealing who you are or what you are sensing in photos. You could admire the real beauty of an item and keep it in a photo album. In a photography class you could learn how to use different cameras and tips for them. You could also learn how cameras are made.

Another topic we should really be learning is civics. Civics are all of our rights and it is important to know them because you could easily do something wrong without knowing.

Others may say if we could have more subjects we would not learn the basics and not pass a certain skill, but I argue we should be able to experience with subjects so we could know how to handle some of life's tests.

Some of us students are confused or do not know what we would like to be when we are older. New subjects would give us the opportunity to blossom as a school and explore the journey of the business world.

Learning new topics in our school would be an amazing, welcoming change.

Ashley Temlin

Salisbury Middle School

To the Editor:

Was there ever a time when you wanted to play an instrument not offered at your school?

I was hoping to play the violin when I became a fourth grader. I soon found out, however, they no longer offered string instruments at our school. I was disappointed, and I considered not taking an instrument.

Students should have the opportunity to play instruments they believe they will enjoy, including string instruments.

In fact, the American Psychological Association states students who play instruments do better in their academics.

According to Christopher Johnson, a professor of music and music therapy at the University of Kansas, "Students in elementary schools with superior music education programs scored around 22 percent higher in English and 20 percent higher in math scores on standardized tests."

In reviewing profiles of SAT and achievement test takers, The College Board said, "Students with course work or experience in music performance scored 52 points higher on the verbal portion of the SAT and 37 points higher on the math portion than students with no course work or experience in the arts."

Also, being in an orchestra provides opportunities in college such as scholarships and musical theaters.

This data is stronger for students allowed to play their first choice instrument.

Others may say our school does not need string instruments because we have a band, but I argue string instruments are just as important as any other instrument. Many students will not play an instrument because their first choice was a string instrument.

If we had string instruments, more students would potentially enroll in music. This would result in better achievement test scores throughout the student body. Schools have been striving for better scores on state tests, so why not give the students the string instruments that they want?

Paige Mathieu

Salisbury Middle School