This is Viewpoints for Monday, April 25, 2016

Northwoods is a gem

So often, it seems we only hear the negative things about our public schools, but as a school board member, I know that all across our community, teachers and administrators are doing exceptional work, going the extra mile every day to make sure every child has the opportunity to succeed. The cutting-edge, successful program at Northwoods Academy is one example of that outstanding work.

I wish everyone who is concerned about the state of our public schools could have been with me recently when I visited Northwoods. A state-of-the-art facility located on the former Tinsley Elementary School campus on Pierce Avenue, Northwoods serves students ages 3-6, a significant portion of whom have special education needs, including medically fragile children. At Northwoods, whenever possible, children with special needs are educated alongside their regular education peers. The fact that it was nearly impossible for an observer like me to differentiate one from the other speaks volumes about the success of this program.

No doubt, early intervention is a key to success in school. Northwoods is a shining example of how that approach is working with some of our most vulnerable children. Regular education students also benefit because they learn empathy and acceptance for children who are different from them while receiving an excellent education. No wonder Northwoods has a well-earned reputation as a stellar example of this type of program and is often visited by other systems interested in developing a similar school.

The successes at Northwoods come only with the dedication and expertise of its teachers and administrators. They do an impressive job of making the school experience a positive one for every student. I spent time in a classroom where every child eagerly raised a hand to answer questions on the board, and their teacher gave each the opportunity to successfully complete that task to the best of their abilities. That’s important because in my experience a student who is successful at school looks forward to going to school and stays in school.

Most of us look to report cards to gauge how well our children are doing in school. At Northwoods, a report card alone is insufficient to measure what the children achieve. I met children who could not walk when they began school who learned to take their first steps and children who could not speak who learned to say, “I love you” to their parents. For children with special needs, outcomes such as improved social skills, greater independence in personal care, better mobility and even the ability to talk to one’s mother or father are important milestones. These are the very things Northwoods works on every day with great success while offering top-notch academics for every student.

Northwoods Academy may be the best kept educational secret in Bibb County — but it shouldn’t be. Northwoods is a credit to this community and the students it serves, and it deserves our support and appreciation.

Response to Echols

I have been reading Viewpoints and letters to the editor in the Telegraph for more than 50 years, and the one by Betty Echols this week on elderly drivers is the most asinine I have ever seen. Echols does not define “elderly” except to indicate that octogenarians should not be allowed behind the wheel of a car or truck. Since I belong to that elite group and yet manage to keep the wheels of my truck between the highway lines, let me comment on her misguided piece. Certainly my response is not personal, and it would be the same if I found such letter from one of my three children in the newspaper.

Fortunately our minds don’t expire at a given age. Many 80-year-olds work every day in all kinds of jobs. Some are judges, writers, clerks, mechanics, cooks, dispensers of medical advice and service, attorneys and retailers. What would volunteerism be without the “elderly” pitching in and helping, like President Jimmy Carter did throughout his 80s with Habitat for Humanity? Visit any program that offers services to the less fortunate and you will find a sprinkling of we older folk dishing out food, hanging garments on a discounted clothes rack, calling on the sick and shut-in who are often our junior. At the top of the ladder nearest God are those “elderly” living saints who give free time to sit and counsel the gravely ill in our hospitals and hospice facilities.

Most of us collectively drive millions of miles a year without a fender bender, and our greatest fear is being rear-ended by a younger person speeding in a school zone with a cellphone in his ear or a smartphone on her knee.

This story was originally published April 24, 2016 at 10:11 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Monday, April 25, 2016."