The Roman calendar we use in the Western world has its beginning in January, in the dead of winter. The Romans named the first month of their year for Janus, the two-headed god of doorways and gates who looks at where he has been as well as where he is going.

So, as we begin this new year, let us look back a bit. As the Farmingdale educational community, where have we been? In the last five years, teachers with over 1,000 years of experience have retired. They helped to create the system and the educational culture we share. Farmingdale has a proud educational philosophy. Our teachers are committed to meet and exceed the needs of all our students, recognizing their individual requirements and abilities. We are a highly qualified and motivated faculty who have been recognized with multiple local, state and national awards. Through our mentoring and "buddy" programs, plus the culture of helping that runs through all of our schools, our new teachers are becoming part of this fine community. We have dedicated our careers to the children of Farmingdale, seeing that they are instructed, nurtured, and cared for at levels that make us, and this community, proud. And we have done all this in spite of the fact that our salaries remain at the lowest levels in Nassau County.

We are at the beginning of a new year, looking ahead. We are not without our problems. In spite of a larger student population and ever-increasing state mandates, we are being asked to meet our goals with a smaller faculty. Once again, Farmingdale teachers will be asked to make do with less. And once again, we will find a way to do this for the children.

Sadly, we are starting 2006 without a contract. We have been without a contract since July of 2005. I can only hope that we continue to attract and retain talented people to teach the children of Farmingdale. To do so, it is necessary to treat the teachers of this district with respect-and that involves a fair contract. Farmingdale teachers are consummate professionals who deserve to be treated as such.

We are here because we have chosen this profession, because we believe in the potential of all children. And in spite of problems and philosophical differences, we intend to conduct ourselves every day as professionals, working to the best of our abilities, to develop that potential, to educate the children of Farmingdale.

There is a Chinese proverb that states, "By viewing the old, we learn the new." Farmingdale has had times when teachers were treated poorly, when a fair contract was denied them. No one, not the teachers nor the parents nor the children, was happy in those dark days. Let us "learn the new" by looking at the darkness of the past and working to ensure that it remains in the past.

While it may seem odd to begin the new year in some of our coldest, bleakest weather, remember that the days are getting longer, that light is returning. My wish for the new year is that we all nurture and protect that light.