While combing through the archives for the Bicentennial special section the Journal-Tribune is publishing Aug. 1, we found a copy of Insight dated Dec. 1, 1989. Insight was a Marysville school newspaper that was published monthly by a group of Marysville students. What particularly was interesting about that issue were the two editorials they put together.
The first one was titled “The New MHS.” It included details about the new high school being built, taking pride in what Marysville has to offer versus Dublin, Upper Arlington and Columbus Academy, and asking the administration to listen more and talk less.
The second editorial was titled “S.A.D.D. But True.” It was about the local deaths that were occurring related to drunk driving, and encouraged students to take a stand for a drug and alcohol free campus by joining local school initiatives – Teen Institute and Students Against Drunk Driving.
What we took away from the editorials was that in the last 30 years, some things have changed and some things have stayed the same in the Marysville School District.
The same is we are still taking pride in what Marysville has to offer and battling Dublin and UA for status in central Ohio.
What has changed is the school stance on an alcohol and drug free campus in light of the fact that the district is considering a policy to allow alcohol sales at non-school events at the stadium.
We wonder… how the staff of Insight would react to where we are today?
Insight Staff members were Greg Schulze, Steve Baird, Michelle Wade, Derek Howard, Jason Lockwood, Matt Hoffman, Jennifer Miller, Jennifer Salyer, Janelle Hall, Angela Hall, Pat Barnett, Damon Bingman, Kellie Kalp, Beaux Alexander, Carrie Hoopes, Amy Arnold, Tara Bumgartner and Neil Baker. Jim Shipp was the advisor.
As Marysville grows, there are many scenarios for change that will present themselves to the local public and we are totally against becoming a suburb of Columbus. But sometimes there are examples of how school districts like Dublin handle policies that we think our local school board should look into.
In May we published an article detailing a proposal to allow alcohol sales on Marysville School grounds for non-school events. Keep in mind, this proposal wasn’t talked about in open session. We found it in the board’s written meeting notes.
The idea behind the proposal was mentioned in a previous board meeting where Bruce Daniels, a car dealer who is financially supporting a portion of the cost of the stadium, wanted to sell alcohol during an event similar to what Dublin hosts on July 4th.
The Independence Day event is held at Dublin Coffman stadium in concert with the Dublin Conventions and Visitors Bureau. What we found interesting, beside the fact the local board didn’t want to draw attention to the new policy proposal, was the fact that the Dublin holiday event doesn’t serve alcohol because Dublin City Schools doesn’t allow it on its property.
We have had a lot of feedback on our article from residents who don’t think its a good idea for the school district to allow any type of alcohol sales either, including a call from a family that has had members killed by drunk drivers. This family spoke up much like other taxpayers have, and after measuring their responses, we feel that an overwhelming majority think the local school board should follow in Dublin’s footsteps on this one and keep the school property alcohol and drug free.