WEST PARIS — Monday morning, West Paris sixth grader Soran Adams reported to Paris Elementary School following the abrupt closure of his beloved Agnes Gray last Tuesday.

He is doing what the adults have stated is in his best interests as a child. But he is not in agreement with the decision. And he intends to make it clear to everyone, from his friends to officials at the highest level of Maine.

Actually, he has already begun, by sending a letter to Superintendent Heather Manchester about closing Agnes Gray. His mother, Carina Adams read the letter during West Paris’ selectmen’s meeting last Thursday. He authorized the Advertiser Democrat to publish it in its entirety.

Adams is just getting started.

In an exclusive interview with the Advertiser Democrat on Monday afternoon, Soran shared his distress about losing the only school he and his friends have ever attended and emphatically stated he will not back down from challenging its closure.

“As I said in the letter, our voices need to be heard,” Adams explained. “And if I hadn’t written that letter, no one else would’ve. Adults could talk for the children but it won’t be the same as the kids that go to the school actually speaking out against something they believe isn’t right.

“We are a small community where everyone knows each other. Every first-grader knows every sixth-grader. And every sixth-grader knows everyone else in the school. Everyone’s really a family.”

By contrast, Adams said, at a big school like in Paris, there are so many classes that most of the kids might not ever even know each others’ names or ever really interact with each other.

Asked what it felt like to pull into the parking lot at PES Monday morning, Adams was blunt: it was not Agnes Gray.

He was also forthright about what his and his friends’ first day at Paris Elementary School was like.

“I knew none of these people in the halls,” Adams went on. “It’s intimidating. Me, and some of my close friends, are grieving.”

His classroom was barren. The shelves were basically empty. He said some children were on the verge of tears and others seemed to be acting out due to their anxiety. During recess when he asked a friend in fifth grade how she was doing she burst into tears.

“It’s like everyone is devastated about this.”

Writing to Superintendent Manchester was just Adams’ first move. He is talking with his friends about writing similar letters of their own. He hopes to organize a peaceful protest at SAD 17’s Central Office on Main Street in South Paris. He plans to write letters to many other people in “high positions.”

“People are mad, and we’re sad, and we are overlooked,” he declared. “People in these high positions – specifically the superintendent who made this choice – closed this school … no notice. In one night, it was gone. Maybe they did think about how we felt, but they didn’t take it into enough consideration.

“Agnes Gray is our home and it is our family.”

“He has a lot of plans to keep advocating,” said his mother Carina. “He is making a list.”

“As long as we make a fuss, they have to see it,” Adams said. “They’ll have to acknowledge it to some degree. This keeps Agnes Gray alive.

“If we just sit there and let this happen, it will slowly rot, physically as well as mentally. The next generation will not be able to go to [our] Agnes Gray and will forget about this school, this community and our family.

“I will not let that happen.”

Copy the Story Link