Be involved: Volunteering in schools can make a difference

Thelma Smith is right.

The Wayne County Board of Education member recently challenged churches across the county — as well as residents and parents — to become more involved in their schools.

She suggested that if this community embraced its schools, students and teachers, we could take major strides toward improving the quality of education in this town.

The old adage that “it takes a community to raise a child” is especially appropriate these days.

Busy parents, more potential distractions and changing social structures are big obstacles when it comes to getting children’s attention focused on what they are supposed to be learning in school.

So, if all the adults they encounter in Wayne County youths’ lives are preaching from the same page — that education is the key to their futures — they just might take a moment to listen.

Our teachers and schools cannot do it alone — and there is nothing wrong with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and even neighbors making sure that the children in this community know the schools have their support.

If education is a priority for all of us, we can get that message across to those who need to hear it.

Supporting our schools is the first step. Getting involved is part two.

Volunteer to tutor, copy papers, assist with programs, whatever your schedule will allow. You can make a difference.

By this time next year, who knows what this community can say it accomplished.

Published in Editorials on August 18, 2005 10:20 AM