Editorials

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

UP: To Whitney Dobson, who was named Wood County Schools 2024 teacher of the year. She is a pre-kindergarten teacher at Blennerhassett Elementary School who says she embraces play as a form of learning and parental involvement as key to a child's academic future. "Whitney goes above and beyond to meet the needs of her students every day. She treats them with love and kindness," educator Lisa Smith wrote in her nomination of Dobson. "You can tell she genuinely cares about every student in her room. She works with families and the community to make sure her students have opportunities to succeed. As a National Board Certified teacher, Whitney collaborates and mentors teachers both at the county and state level." How wonderful to know there is talent and compassion like that in Wood County's schools.

UP: To Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's push for implementation of the Science of Reading in Ohio schools. Provided student success is monitored and the whole school places an emphasis on reading, it appears as though the initiative is an important step in setting up Buckeye State students for success. "We want every child in the state to live up to their God-given potential," DeWine said. "And for that to happen they have to learn to read."

UP: To members of the Parkersburg Tree Commission who distributed white pine seedlings to fourth-graders in Parkersburg schools last week. Helping students understand and appreciate trees is an important way to lead them toward being better stewards of the earth. There are many benefits to planting more trees. But student Anna Stout may have summed it up best for her age group. "It give us more air, and they're pretty, " she said. Shouldn't those be reasons enough for the rest of us to do a better job appreciating trees, too?