With days until the beginning of the new school year, lucky parents and students are gearing up for the months ahead.

Monday, August 30, 1999

With days until the beginning of the new school year, lucky parents and students are gearing up for the months ahead. Parents are lucky to regain a bit of time home alone during the week and their children are fortunate because they have new challenges and opportunities ahead of them.

Regardless of age, each student has new opportunities laying in their path. They are there for the taking.

While they may not be aware of the opportunities available and the benefits of their new-found education, they will find them eventually.

Although it is students who have new opportunities ahead of them, one group in the schools has a returning opportunity each year.

They have the opportunity to see the future.

With a crystal ball better than any carried by a palm reader or soothsayer, members of this lucky group can easily see what lies ahead for the rest of us.

These fortunate few are teachers.

Whether they are teaching kindergartners to tie their shoes or advanced seniors how to handle calculus problems, these teachers are witnessing the action of tomorrow’s leaders, workers and parents.

They are witnessing the future.

Granted, there are the unfortunate few teachers who have a cracked perspective of what school should be and can’t see the potential that walks the halls; they only see failure and misdeeds.

Luckily for the rest of us, they are few and far between.

The rest of the teachers, hopefully, know how lucky they are to have a hand in shaping the future.

So, where does that leave us, those who don’t lead the classroom?

It leaves us to make our own opportunities to provide the students around us with the education they will need in the future.

Those opportunities can be given in many ways, by offering personal skills to enhance the classroom experience or helping out a student in need of a little extra help.

The opportunity to take a direct role in the education of a student is there for the taking.

But, we also have other opportunities to provide the best future possible through the best education possible.

As taxpayers, we have the opportunity to push state and federal legislators to support schools to the greatest possible limit.

Instead of pushing for tax cuts, there’s a need to invest in our future by making sure students have the opportunities to succeed.

With an ever-changing world filled with emerging technology, it’s crucial for schools to stay ahead of the game and strive to produce the best students possible.

Unfortunately, that comes with a cost. A cost to lower class sizes. A cost to purchase new equipment. A cost to provide new opportunities.

But, in the end, the rewards – to both students and society – will come back in multiples too high for advanced math students to predict.

Of course, just throwing money at the schools isn’t the entire answer.

The money must be spent wisely to equip classrooms without waste.

That means prioritizing spending to those who have a direct impact on students. The goal is to teach and provide opportunity.

If that goal is not met, all of society will feel the loss. The future will not be as bright as it can be.