April 18, 2017

Onslow County School Board Members,

A matter of hours, that’s all it took for hundreds of former students to band together to support an amazing teacher and person. It’s amazing what social media can do, we can pretend to be someone else and use the opportunity to manipulate or destroy, or we can work together to save the reputation of a man we all know and love. My name is Samantha Peterson, I graduated from Swansboro High School in 2006, and Mr. David Laughinghouse was one of my favorite teachers. It’s incredible that the same type of bullying and misconduct that he always spoke against and always worked to prevent is what was used to hurt him. I could never imagine what was going through those students minds when they decided to target a supportive teacher, but I can only believe that they did not understand the gravity of their actions. I don’t want to use this letter to make excuses for a group of children who made a terrible mistake, but the thing is, I know that’s exactly what Mr. Laughinghouse would do to make an impact on their lives. That’s the type of teacher and person he is, so I’m asking you not to pass judgment on him over an incident in which he had no control. He helped save me in a time that, for me at least, was incredibly difficult. Mr. Laughinghouse is always there quietly serving as a hero to students in need. From small things, like buying lunch for students who forgot their money at home, to bigger actions, like helping a student struggling with problems at home. I can’t claim to know all of the stories, but I’m hoping that a few of the people in the list below can help shed some light on the teacher, friend, and hero that we all learned to love.

We are all willing and able to sit in on your next school board meeting and speak individually. I know that process only allows for three minutes per person, but I bet we could all fill the time easily, and every single one of us would be willing to speak. We could be there all night, but that’s what we will do to save a heroic voice that brought a little light into the dark days of high school.

Thank you,

Samantha Peterson