The second floor of the Wildey is decorated in orange and black. Teachers, students and other members of the community gather together, filling the room with excited chatter. Children run around and hold signs displaying the reason everyone is there: Proposition E.

The “Vote Yes for Prop E” committee held a rally last Saturday, March 23 to feature student and adult speakers in the community to educate their audience and express why they would vote yes.

One of these speakers was Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton. He grew up in this district and wants to see children in its public schools to have the same opportunities he did.

“These next years are going to be really tough for District 7… so it’s absolutely critical that we get out there and gain support,” Patton said in his speech.

Junior Rachel Pranger is a volleyball and basketball player who spoke at the event.

“Being a part of such good groups with great coaches and mentors taught me not only how to work hard, but also have good communication,” Pranger said at the rally. “There’s nothing like middle school sports… to prepare students for the next step of sports.”

One student attendee and performer at the rally was sophomore Abby Nahlik. She is involved with both choir and drama at EHS, and she does not want to see those programs go.

“I am in support of Prop E because many of the programs that would suffer if (it) does not pass are very important to me,” Nahlik said.

Another reason she shows support is for the community as a whole.

“…the damage this would do to our town is massive,” Nahlik said. “Our district is pretty good, and some people choose to live in this area because of it. If the school system takes a hit, less people might come to town.”

This was also the view of Kim Geminn who moved to Edwardsville for our public school system. She is a local business owner of Brick47 Marketing.

“We moved here for one reason and one reason only: the promise of opportunity that our school district offers,” Geminn said at the rally. “I’m scared that if Prop E does not pass that my daughter and her peers won’t enjoy the same opportunities that past students have enjoyed.”

And that’s why people came to the Wildey early Saturday morning. They gathered not only to show their support for the referendum, but to show support for the entire community and the future generations to come.

“We almost got this done in the last election, but obviously everybody got together and decided we needed to do a little bit more,” Patton said. “Elections are tough, but work very hard over the next several days because every single vote matters.”