Every parent knows that having a child in school means you’re in school too, and your schedule needs to adjust. And while the events you attend and goodies you supply change somewhat as your kids get older, your weekly planner has to accommodate a range of school activities.
This is how it should be; parents and schools partner on one of the most important tasks in life – rearing the next generation. Parents need to work with their school system to make sure their children get the best education they can. This partnering can range from making sure homework gets done and attending parent/teacher conferences to supporting extra-curricular activities like sports, music and speech.
Helping children learn extends beyond helping with school events. Many families travel during the summer and expose their kids to a lot of new places. Some take their kids to events and museums in places like Omaha and Lincoln, and this can awaken young people to new and wonderful things.
Lori and I recently took our son, Thomas, a freshman at Boone Central, on a rather unusual educational excursion. I’m currently chairman of the state governmental ethics commission and we’ve been involved with an important campaign issue that ended up before the Nebraska Supreme Court in early January. Knowing Thomas is considering going to law school, and knowing that this issue could have a major impact on how campaigns are financed, we all three attended the hearing.
And we were glad we did. The questioning from the judges was challenging and insightful. The attorneys had prepared statements and were given only a limited amount of time in which to present them. Yet most of this time was spent answering questions rather than reading their prepared remarks, and it was a good example to how our legal system examines both sides of an issue.
Supporting education isn’t limited to just helping one’s own children. Many businesses “adopt” an elementary class each year and some are now providing internships for students participating in Boone Central’s Career Academies. These are great examples of how the wider community and the school can partner to help our young people grow.
As members of the Boone County Historical Society Lori and I are pleased to partner with various school and scout groups to not only expose students to this area’s past but to engage their help with museum projects. This gives our young people a stronger sense of place as well as a sense of ownership through helping preserve our community’s historical resources.
As co-directors of the Albion Area Arts Council Lori and I work hard to bring a variety of musicians and speakers into the local school systems. So far this season our artists have done residencies at both Boone Central and St. Michael’s schools; just last week an exceptional young mallet artist, Matthew Coley, worked with all the Boone Central band students in both Albion and Petersburg.
After we finished with Matthew’s residency, we hauled most of my musical instruments to St. Edward where I demonstrated them to students there. After that I helped their third grade write a song about St. Ed. It was a busy week and it tired us out, but it was worth it to be able to touch so many young people’s lives. Though it may not require a village to raise a child, an education-friendly community can do much to help its young people get a solid start on life. So even though it can mess up my schedule, I’m always glad for the chance to go back to school.