Me speaking out against this comes kind of late, but it's something that has eaten at me for a long time, and if you have any interest in public education in Manitoba, Canada, or North America in general, you might want to read this. (1/?)

I began attending Glenlawn Collegiate Institute in the 2013-2014 school year, and as someone who skated by in Band throughout 7th and 8th grade, I signed up for band at Glenlawn, with the idea that it would be an easy credit. On top of that, I chose to enroll (2/?)

myself in Jazz Band, as it took place every off-day in-between band, again, as an easy credit. In my 9th grade year, I treated it as that much, not putting a whole lot of effort into the class, but enjoying the fun dynamic between my two band teachers, (3/?)

Greg Crowe and Rob Monson. These two men clearly were friends and great colleagues, but my interest in their classes was minimal for the first year. At the insistence of my parents, I took both classes for the second year in a row and started to enjoy things more (4/?)

as I experienced the community around the band program. In late 9th grade, a friend and prominent member of the theatre groups lost her battle with cancer, and not only did it affect me, but I saw how it affected the many theatre groups as a community, (5/?)

and through my next three years, band became much more than easy credit. It became a kind of home at school. My mornings consisted of looking forward to band class, and my afternoons felt dull without it. By 12th grade, and when graduation was around the corner (6/?)

I had realized how much those classes and those people meant to me. Greg Crowe and Rob Monson had taught me lessons about playing an instrument, sure, but they had also inspired a love for Jazz music in me that persists to this day, as well as skills and (7/?)

qualities I hold dear to myself today. These two men did this for not only me, but the rest of the Class of 2018, and many other graduating classes before me, and a couple after as well. What's the point of this thread? Since the last provincial election (8/?)

funding has been cut to public schools' art programs. This funding cut included the band program that I went through over 4 years of my life. The same band program that not only was respected at international music festivals, but shaped students greatly into who we became (9/?)

and this funding cut lead to the professional separation of the two men who have influenced me greatly. @MrGregCrowe and @robmonson8 have been an inspiration to me and many others in their time together at GCI, and so if anyone of voting age reads this,

I urge you to consider education, and the arts in particular, when you cast your vote. Elections are about more than ourselves. They are also about our children, and the generation who will control the world when we are gone, because future students at GCI will be robbed

of an experience that could change their lives, and have been robbed of two men that, when working together, changed my life. Thank you for reading :)