TWELVE GREAT THINGS: About Columbia Public Schools

From personal experience

1) Grant Elementary: A symphony of diversity.

2) Gail Underwood, who makes math sing.

3) And Mr. Greimann, Mr. Steelman, Mrs. Kinney, Mrs. Schoonover, Mrs. Wingert, Mrs. Borduin, Mrs. Lake, and Mrs. Krumm -- Grant teachers all who've taught our children well.

4) Parents (and Grandparents)! Supportive, encouraging, and fabulous. Remember: Parents are Teachers too (especially during homework time).

5) Melissa Guillotte, Ed Hanson, Carly Bates, Pam Sisson, and all the children's maestros at CPS who've taught our children the joys of music, the passion of creativity, and the wonders of artistic expression.

6) Crossing guards like Sharon Alvis:
http://columbiatribune.com/2008/jan/20080124news053.asp

and TJ Jones,
http://columbiatribune.com/2003/apr/20030419news004.asp

who give new meaning to the phrase: "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of cold stays these couriers (of our children) from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

7) All school board members for their volunteer service under trying circumstance, but in particular: School Board members Michelle Gadbois and Ines Segert, for having the courage of their convictions even in the face of immense pressure, to lead with morals, ethics, and the People in mind. (Gadbois recently confirmed that she will not seek another term).

8) Jim Ritter, for using his quiet moral authority to do the right thing at the right time.

9) The faculty and staff at Smithton Middle

10) Janese Heavin, for staying the course in a time and place that does not always encourage quality, investigative, hard-hitting journalism.

11) All the people who volunteer their time, money, and resources to help CPS be the best it can be -- like all those folks who came together during the High School location crisis and crafted a workable solution; and all those people, like Nick Peckham, who helped Grant school recover from a fire with innovative solutions and hard work.

12) And a town called Columbia in a country called America, where one small voice can still make a difference and where this crazy-quilt cacophony of voices, chatter, blogging and opining can change the course of a nation -- but only after one great teacher changes the course of a mind.