Welcome Back To School

Welcome back to school Jasper County students! The first recorded newspaper article about area students returning to school was in the Macon Telegraph in January, 1827. Back then, over 186 years ago, there was a Male Academy and a Female Academy here.

The schools combined later and the founding fathers bought land and built a school on a street they named College Street. College must have meant something different back then. And what a bargain to attend this school, only $1.25 a month.

These days the school supply aisles at stores are full of anxious parents armed with “required school supply lists” and students running to fetch items, throwing them in the buggy with abandonment. One can only hope they will be able to get the bank to give them a third mortgage to pay for all this.

As a child, I remember we were armed with a #2 yellow pencil and a notebook with a few sheets of paper on our first day of school. That was in a world long, long ago.

The debate about education goes on year after year.

Unless the kids or the parents hit the numbers, education does pay. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, persons holding a bachelor degree will earn almost double what a person with only a high school diploma will earn. The saddest figure is the number of non-high school graduates that are unemployed at 12.4%.

Powerfully, this statistic screams, Stay in school and yes, learn.

Congratulations Parents and Keepers of the Kids during the Summer, you made it. And to the students, teachers, and staff, have a wonderful 2013-2014 school year and yes, even to those old timers like myself who are still going to college. Have a great year! Learning is a lifetime occupation.