Editorials

Education: Wood County Schools shows its dedication

Lest anyone should think teachers spend their summers lounging by pools and avoiding academia at all costs, thousands of them proved that notion wrong last week when they took part in Wood County's Teaching and Learning Academy.

"We had just over 2,000 individual registrations for sessions," Ashlee Beatty, director of curriculum and instruction for Wood County Schools, said. "We had just over 60 sessions offered throughout the week and each day started with a keynote speaker."

Among those speakers was Dr. Timothy Rasinski, a professor of literacy education at Kent State University.

"He is what you would say is a rock star in the reading world," Beatty said. "He is one of the most well known ELA researchers in the world. So, it was just a treat and an honor to have him here."

OK, then, they may be enjoying themselves a little while they work to be better for our students at the start of the school year.

But they learned from each other, too, as the experts among them presented sessions to their peers in an effort to share their wealth of knowledge and experience.

"I've been really pleased in all of our staffs dedication to teaching our students," Beatty said. "To give up a whole week of your summer really proves your dedication, interest and enthusiasm ... We're just so lucky to have the people that we have here in Wood County."

We are, indeed. Whether they know it or not (it's hard to believe students' minds are focused on the classroom at this stage in July), our young people are fortunate to have the caliber of teachers and administrators in Wood County Schools. Surely the level of participation in the Teaching and Learning Academy is a sign of wonderful things ahead for the upcoming school year.