Letter to the Editor
Published in the White Bear Press August 28, 2002

I met Brett Smith eight years ago, when I was in 6th grade and he was my band director. He was my teacher for three years of middle school band, my boss when he hired me as a Program Coordinator in his Summer Band Program at Mahtomedi Middle School, and my mentor during my senior year of high school. Now, at 19 years old, with my first year of college behind me, I consider Brett and his wife Jody my friends.
The impact Brett has had on my life has been phenomenal. He has been there to encourage and counsel me about my music and my life. Brett discovered my hidden talent for leadership, and helped me develop it by creating a summer band position for me. He was a listening ear during my parents divorce, and helped me by sharing his own experience growing up as a child of divorce. I even got a taste of what it will be like to be a music educator when Brett let me teach a few of his classes.
As a teacher Brett is wonderful. He celebrates his students' accomplishments, and helps them to reach for their goals. He makes himself available for his students, and is always there to listen and encourage. He values kids and education, and he lives by those values everyday, inside and outside the classroom.
As a young White Bear Lake voter, I am so pleased that Brett is a candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives. We need more legislators like Brett Smith-people who can make important decisions based on their own first hand experience; people who know that our future lies with the wellbeing of young people. He certainly has my vote!

Stephanie Anderson
White Bear Lake