Hello, my name is Daniela Garcia and I'm a senior at Waltham High School. As you all know Waltham High has changed a lot since the start of the pandemic, and we are facing a lot of challenges we haven't had to face before.It has recently come to my attention that Ms.Rafferty (affectionately known as Ms.Raff to her students), one of the English teachers at our school and others have been told that they will no longer be able to continue working with us. This is sad news for me as Ms.Raff had a profound impact on many students lives, but it is even sadder for the Waltham community and the next generation of WHS students. They won't get to experience what it is like being a student in Ms.Raff's English class or homeroom and teachers like her don't come around often. 

I have become close with Ms.Raff this year, as she is my homeroom teacher, and I have seen the ways in which she has helped many other students and the ways in which she continuously supports our school. When talking to teachers who work in the english department with Ms.Raff, they also have nothing but amazing things to say. I'd like to share a few things about Ms.Raff that I have learned who know and love her:

• she has taught for 7+ years (3 years at WHS)
• during her second year at WHS she took on the challenge of creating a new curriculum for the 12th grade to follow 
• she frequently uses restorative justice circles in her classroom to create a sense of community within her students 
• she was very involved in school attending many events including sports,plays,show choir events, etc 
• she was also involved with the unified basketball team in our school since she played basketball as a student 
• something very impactful for students is that she greets every student by name before and after class helping us feel acknowledged. 
• Ms.Raff helped out many stressed out seniors when writing their college essays whether they were in her classes or not 
• She has also talked to a few students and I about how some college related things work, like payments, which as a first gen student was like a sigh of relief knowing we have a teacher to count on. 

With this petition I am hoping to show that students, teachers, and parents believe that Ms.Rafferty has positively impacted many students at Waltham High School by continuing to support students' emotional and mental health needs, by making them feel seen, and by inspiring teachers around her. And it isn't just her delivery of the content or willingness to be involved, which are fantastic, but it is also her ability to make connections, making each student feel special and supported, and bringing positivity to those around her every day.Those are the qualities that are often very hard to find. I am hoping that the School Committee and the City Council choose to do what's best for the community and its students by reevaluating the budget and finding a way to keep Ms.Rafferty in our school. Ms.Rafferty is a valued member of our community and will work harder than most to elicit positive change, which we need desperately. If you ask students who know and love Ms.Raff we would gladly use older textbooks or have less paper and pencils to our disposal, in order to keep a teacher who inspires us to be better everyday. Please reconsider the decision to not rehire Ms.Raff, she is amazing and we want her to be a part of WHS for the remainder of her teacher career!