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* Wood County Board of Education members last week heard from Director of Curriculum and Instruction Ashlee Beatty about the results of a recent family and employee survey regarding district communications and nontraditional instructional days. It's a testament to how involved parents feel with the school district that more than 1,000 parents responded. Answers from them and from employees will help the district better understand how to shape policy. "With this feedback and what we've learned and lived, I do believe we will get better each time," Beatty said. If they keep up that kind of interaction with stakeholders, Wood County Schools can't help but get better. It is encouraging to see how hard they are willing to work toward that goal.
* How wonderful it is to have allies such as the Polymer Alliance Zone and Somar President Futoshi Sotani working on our behalf to attract more employers to the region by cultivating relationships with Japanese business leaders. As representatives from a broad group of companies toured the region last week, PAZ President and CEO Keith Burdette said "(Sotani) has really embraced this community and really wants to advance the community and create a larger base of Japanese companies that feed off each other," Burdette said. "That has happened in other parts of West Virginia where other companies have come in. I have never worked with a CEO who was that engaged in helping us recruit companies. We are blessed that he feels that strongly about us. We want to help him make the pitch." That says something about the people and communities Sotani has experienced here, too. "I love this state and I hope I can bring more business here," Sotani said. "I hope we can have a wonderful relationship between Japanese companies and this state." We hope so, too. But in the meantime, we are grateful for the advocacy on display last week ... and hope no one lets off the gas anytime soon.