Building Blocks

Stop and think what makes a strong community. Might these elements be present?

• Neighbors aware of each other and caring about them; watching out for their well-being
• Kids playing well together in the neighborhood
• Community is economically stable, self sustaining
• Schools are respected, supported and families are involved with them
• Citizens feel safe and secure in their town; police and fire services are effective
• Public utilities are reliable and affordable: water, sewer, electric and natural gas systems work well with few outages
• Citizens are active and knowledgeable of local affairs
• Local governments are responsive to citizen needs

What attracts these elements in the first place? Might it be as simple as citizen expectations? We who live in these communities expect good government, mutual participation in civic affairs from our neighbors, family involvement in the schooling of our kids and an environment of active management of our communities?

If that is so, where do these expectations come from?

I suggest people expect things when they are involved, discuss life around them, get to know people, and in turn those people get to know them. Participation breeds understanding and awareness. Thinking about the issues and exercising logic enters the picture, too. Sounds a whole lot like education related skill sets, doesn’t it?

If we expect life to be good, pleasant, productive and forward looking I think education is a common denominator that we all must share. That gets right back to providing schools within the community that prepare kids for adulthood and living lives that matter to them.

If we glance superficially around our schools, today, we will find each has strong points; and weak points. The latter are mostly about funding; the former are mostly reliant on attitudes of staff, teachers and families. If those folks desire kids to eventually take responsibility for their own lives then schools will need to prepare each student to use their talents to good advantage.

Each student comes to the community with different abilities, interests and dreams. It is the job of the community to help each student find his way, pursue his dreams and interests, build abilities into performance strengths and then let him loose on the community to do his life’s mission. The mission will vary from kid to kid. Just like the rest of us, we are all different. We all have different roles to play in our own lives, in the lives of others, and in the promise and performance of each community.

We are not alone. We are not totally self reliant. But communities do not automatically come endowed with the willingness and open-mindedness to provide supports to the individuals within the community. That is an acquired feature of the community. It comes from a well educated population committed to carrying that tradition forward to the next generation and the next and so on.

Such communities are self sustaining. They develop the local economy sufficient to support the costs of running the community, supporting its families, and providing the necessary infrastructure that maintains a well run town. The citizens recognize these strengths and support them through volunteer actions and paying taxes. It comes from education and creates more education.

Like so many things in life there is no beginning or ending of good things. They are intentionally started, intentionally provided, and intentionally expected to return good results.

Such is not all about schools but good schools come from this public action. So do many other things great communities require of themselves. But I think strong public education is the keystone of all of this.

If you agree, help your local schools succeed. If you agree, get involved in public affairs and lend your hand to carry the issues forward to everyone else in town. Help build your community. Begin by realizing the importance of public education in all of that.

Building blocks are the key. Help make great things happen! Get involved.

March 24, 2015