Letters

Letters

The World of Education

I teach fourth grade in a public school district in Massachusetts, and have taught in public schools for 13 years. As someone with a career in the field of education, I was eager to read the Winter 2015 (Education) issue of the VQ. It was particularly strong on conveying the perspectives of Vassar alumni and faculty doing research and developing technology in the field.

That said, there was one omission that I found somewhat surprising: the perspectives of current and experienced public school teachers. Many of the alumni interviewed for the issue had taught for a few years in public schools and then moved on to other endeavors in the field. A few others were just entering the field, or planning to enter it.

If you plan to feature this career field in a future issue, I think it would be greatly enhanced by a section or article on the work of experienced public school teachers from various environments—urban, rural, special education, and so forth. More reporting from the “trenches”—particularly from those who have worked in them for a long time—would be a welcome addition to the magazine. 

Scott L. Jaffe ’01

Northborough,Ma

DC Media Cred

My guess is that your “error of omissions” list [for “Creative Capitol,” Fall 2015] will necessitate a mea culpa.  For example, Alex Orfinger ’83 was the longtime publisher of the Washington Business Journal until his promotion to one of the top executive roles at American Business Journals. He’d get my vote for “Networker in Chief” in the DC business community.

Josh Hinerfeld ‘83

Portland, OR

Editor’s note: Your guess would be right, Josh. We apologize to Mr. Orfinger and anyone else we missed in our coverage. As the article mentions, Washington, DC, is chock-full of media prof-essionals, so we knew heading in that we would not be able to mention everyone, but we’re sorry to have missed a mega-watt talent like Mr. Orfinger.

Corrections

Our sincere apologies go out to the Class of 1965 for inadvertently crediting the Class of 1963 with their remarkable achievement: Raising $11.8 million in Reunion gifts for the Vassar Fund.

The error appeared in the Class Notes column for 1968, as part of a report-back on Reunion 2015.

We incorrectly named Marian E. Lindberg’s memoir in the Mixed Media section of the Fall 2015 issue. The correct title is The End of the Rainy Season: Discovering My Family’s Hidden Past in Brazil.