Freedom, a cornerstone of our heritage, who we are as people, and how we live out our lives, provides us with not only the blessing of being able to choose our religion and speak our mind, it also opens up before us the frequently daunting challenge of choosing where to invest our time, talent and treasure. As our homes, cars and other things beg our attention and beckon us to invest in them, let me suggest that we continue to keep the opportunity to invest in the education of the young people in our community foremost in our minds. Daily we witness on TV, and read about, stories of racial tensions, drug abuse, crime, under-employment, income inequality, poverty, and poor health care, and are tempted to despairingly ask: “When is this going to end?” Let me suggest that there is a key capable of substantially turning around all of these and that is investing in education. While our “leaders” in Washington remain engrossed in their ongoing political brawls, locally we can meaningfully brighten the future of the children of our community and our community at large by supporting education in any and every way we can.
With over 2,000 children and teens in Alliance City Schools, and thousands more in the surrounding communities, bounding down the halls of their schools and through our homes, all, each in their own way, chock-full of promise, we have an opportunity, a responsibility and the honor of doing all we can to instill a “love of learning” in them and help them realize their potential. How can we do that you might ask? Let me suggest one of several strategic ways to invest in the education of our young people.
First and foremost we need to focus on reading, particularly from kindergarten through all elementary grade levels. Given that reading is the gateway to all other learning, it is essential that we do whatever it takes to help children become comfortable readers. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that if a child doesn’t develop at least a reasonably good level of comfort reading at a relatively young age, that child will likely struggle, and in many ways, through much of their formative years. Schools can’t do this alone; they need our help. Regularly tutoring children struggling to read, either personally or through the use of a tutor, is one of the best gifts we can ever give our children; it will serve them far better and longer than any new electronic device, or cloths or sports equipment. Summer School and after-school programs are other very beneficial options for helping children not only develop their skills, but grow in confidence and dignity.
Given the world of activities open before us and our children, including sports, it takes real purposefulness to focus on reading, but the dividends are huge. Cultivating a “love of learning”, principally through reading, from listening to stories, to learning to read and enjoying the world of thoughts, peoples and places, is one the greatest blessings we can give children. Imagine how different our children and teens would be if they were glued to a good book, instead of their TV, iPhone or video game.
Even if we are at an age when we no longer have children at home, ample opportunities exist to tutor children simply by calling your local school and volunteering. The only skill we need bring is a heart of patience and kindness and a desire to help these young people.
Dysfunction can rein in Washington, bleeding us of hope, and advertisers try to lure us away to buy whatever they’re pitching, but we can, very purposefully, chose to focus on our primary mission; educating the children in our families and community, instilling a “love of learning” within them and giving them a fighting chance to realize the great potential within themselves.