Help the teachers

Letter from the editor

On Monday morning, I found myself in Sharon Lamar's First-grade classroom at Bigfork Elementary. I was there to take a photograph of Mrs. Carolyn Wilverding, who won the Friend of Education Award for her volunteer work.

"Mrs. Carolyn," as the students call her, volunteers five days a week to help students learn how to read. On Monday, she was helping Bella Goodson sound out the title of a new book, "Vacations."

Walking into any classroom always reminds me of my own education experience, but the early grades are the most fun.

I'm simply some guy with a camera, and most of the students do their best to try and get into the paper.

When you really stop to think about it, what takes place in a classroom is truly astounding. One teacher is charged with shaping the lives of a lot of students.

No, really think about it.

If not for teachers, libraries would just be storehouses of wasted paper. If no one taught us to read, we could never follow the adventures of Jules Verne or be inspired by George Washington's attack against the British at Boston or wrestle with the philosophy of the ancient Greeks.

If not for teachers, we would never comprehend the scientific marvels hidden in nature and our own bodies. We'd never be in awe of the honey bee or a turning leaf.

If not for teachers, we would be lost.

All that brings me to my main point: Support the upcoming school bond.

No, money doesn't suddenly make good teachers, and money doesn't guarantee a good education, but it does give already good teachers better tools. Much of the high school is completely outdated. The science labs are 50 years old!

The article in this week's issue covers the needs pretty well, but this is an extra encouragement. A few hundred bucks a year is well worth improving the quality of Bigfork's education system. The students and the faithful teachers deserve it.