“Dear Mr. Ziegelhofer: My name is Melina and I am in 2 grade. I am a student at Central Elemantary. But I have a problem” ……. began the handprinted letter on notebook paper sent to the Lexington Superintendent.
Melina Shultz was the 2nd grader who wrote to Lexington Superintendent Mike Ziegelhofer in December 2010, and her problem was that she was cold. She didn’t like to go outdoors for recess when it was extremely cold. So, rather than just be unhappy about the situation, she wrote to the superintendent, asking for a change to the district’s recess temperature guidelines. Those guidelines set the lowest temperature for outdoor recess at 15 degrees. The response she received acknowledged her concern and explained that the district’s principals had agreed to that temperature and clarified that the reasoning was to offer the students as much fresh air and opportunity to run and play as possible.
Two years later, at the end of her 4th grade year, with the recess situation unchanged, the determined Shultz took her case to higher powers. She sent letters to Governor John Kasich, State Senator Larry Obhof, Congressman Pat Tiberi, Senator Sherrod Brown and State Representative Mark Romanchuk suggesting that something might be done at a state or federal level to create uniform temperature guidelines for outdoor recess.
She proposed that 35 degrees would a much better option. Every official responded to her letter with empathy for the situation, but explained that matters like this are under the control of local school districts and their Boards of Education. Their advice was to present her problem and her proposed 35 degree solution to her local Board of Education.
So Shultz did exactly that. On Oct. 23, she attended the regular meeting of the Lexington Board of Education and made her case for the change. But first, she did her homework.
She contacted neighboring districts to see what their recess temperature rules were. She posted a petition at Geyer’s grocery store in Lexington and had well over 100 signatures from area shoppers who agreed with her that 15 degrees was just too cold for children to be outdoors and recommended that it be changed to 35 degrees. She also had bracelet bands made to distribute to the board members and others in attendance at this meeting. The bracelets said, “35 is the new 15.”
The board agreed to consider her proposal. As of early November she had not heard if a decision had been made. Shultz credits her principal at Eastern Elementary Buddy Miller with being supportive of her efforts, but she isn’t sure if he or her teachers agree with her suggestion for the change.
She knows that some students agree with her observation that on some very cold days when there is a lot of snow or ice on the playground, many children don’t really play that much and often just find a place to sit and wait until recess is over. But she acknowledges that other students do enjoy playing in the colder weather.
She also has other concerns and goals beyond her own recess comfort. At the same time she was posting her petition for the recess change at Geyer’s this fall, she was holding a bake sale for the victims of the tornado in Oklahoma as part of her involvement with “Life Changers,” an organization that helps animals, people and nature in need. Along with her mom, Melanie and her grandma, she baked cakes, cookies for the sale.
Even at her young age, Shultz is certain that she wants a career in medicine. She hopes to be a general surgeon. She also suggested she might want to go into politics. She has already begun learning how to navigate through the layers of school district administration and government officials.
