Regarding the Oct. 17 front-page article “Teacher, father saved lives in Ore., police say”:
I have spent four decades working on school violence issues. After the traumatic shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, I thought it may be useful to share some tips on how to talk to kids about school shootings. First, control your emotions, model good behavior, keep routines and assure the kids that they are safe. Listen to their thoughts, then speak with hope, honesty and kindness. Offer them age-appropriate advice and, if suitable, pray for the victims with them.
Every school shooting wounds educators, parents and students even if they are not shot. How adults react and respond to a school shooting helps provide kids with strategies to handle future tough situations.
Stephen Sroka, Cleveland
The writer is president of Health Education Consultants and an adjunct assistant professor at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.
A kiosk can’t replace us
Regarding the Oct. 15 Style article “New artistic director for Kennedy Center”:
I am president of IATSE Local 868, the union that represents the ticketing professionals in the D.C. area, and I recently retired after working more than 27 years at the Kennedy Center box office. I was outraged to read the disrespectful comments that Rick Canny, the new head of artistic programming, made about the Kennedy Center’s box office.
Ticketing is not a job for a computer or a kiosk, as Canny seems to believe. A kiosk cannot answer the many questions these professionals field, such as where the best seat in the Opera House is during a dance performance, or where the best spot in the Concert Hall is for both sound and view during a symphony.
The Kennedy Center’s box office employees are as invaluable and intrinsic to the live event experience as the musicians, actors and technicians who make the performances happen. They work nights, weekends and holidays, and many of them have dedicated several decades of their lives to working at the Kennedy Center. They are guided by a code of ethics, good humor, grace and, above all, expertise.
The box office and the career professionals who run it are important parts of the Kennedy Center’s history and its tradition of excellence. We have the institutional memory of how things were, and with that knowledge, we can contribute to the Kennedy Center’s success in the years that come.
Anne M. Vantine, Washington
The writer is president of IATSE Local 868.
How to elevate the skilled trades
Pipelines for the skills and training mentioned in Jim Farley and Walter Isaacson’s Oct. 18 op-ed, “The skilled trades undergird the essential economy. Let’s elevate them,” run straight through community colleges.
I applaud the article’s attention to rebranding the skilled trades, but success will require more than glossy marketing. A national strategy that puts more federal resources behind community colleges could transform the landscape of these essential efforts. Community colleges have already shown that they can be powerful partners in implementing Workforce Pell Grants and building apprenticeships in the Labor Department’s recent pay-for-performance program.
Community colleges have long been vocal advocates for the skilled trades and close collaborators with local employers, tracking nuanced changes in training needed for in-demand fields. And their existing relationships with K-12 systems, state workforce boards, local chambers of commerce and corporate leaders provide a network of trusted partners who can activate policies quickly and respond effectively to evolving industry needs.
The Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades is an excellent start, and I shared its new report with 700 community college presidents last week. Investing funds in the intentional work being done to create skilled workers at community colleges is a visionary and practical strategy. The outcomes will not only fortify our nation’s infrastructure but also create economic mobility for Americans.
DeRionne Pollard, Washington
The writer, a former president of Nevada State University, Montgomery College and Las Positas College, is the president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges.
Israel must confront settler violence
Regarding the Oct. 17 front-page article “Israeli settlers attack Post photographer”:
My father was a man who would have risked his life to defend the state of Israel, just as he volunteered six times to serve the country of his birth during World War II. The behavior of masked Israeli settlers toward Palestinian farmers would have offended and repulsed him.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response reminded me of when President Donald Trump claimed there was “blame on both sides” following the 2017 violence in Charlottesville.
If the Israeli government fails to fully address the criminality of these assaults, it will award the enemies of Israel a victory they have otherwise failed to achieve, while perhaps irretrievably tarnishing the single functioning democracy in the Middle East.
David Sussman, San Jose, California
Jewish safety shouldn’t be partisan
Jesse Arm’s Oct. 16 op-ed, “In Michigan, Jewish voters are reconsidering their allegiances,” highlighted a troubling question: When did concern for humanity become incompatible with concern for Jewish safety? Jewish tradition has long embraced both universal moral obligations and responsibility for one’s own community. These are not competing values. Yet increasingly, Jewish Americans are being asked to demonstrate their commitment by subordinating their own safety and security.
There is something deeply troubling about a political culture that celebrates communal pride among minorities but treats those same instincts as suspect among Jews. Jewish identity should not have to be stripped of its particular commitments, including ties to Israel, to be acceptable. Nor should Jews be expected to tolerate threats as the price of belonging in America. Protecting Jews from antisemitism is not a partisan cause. It is a basic obligation of every elected official, regardless of party. And it should be a principle on which Americans across the political spectrum can agree.
Aviva Klompas, Boston
The writer is co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit Boundless Israel.
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