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OUR VIEW: Back to school brings new learning opportunities

With back-to-school comes the usual jokes about a sense of relief for parents glad to have the kids out of the house after summer holiday.
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With back-to-school comes the usual jokes about a sense of relief for parents glad to have the kids out of the house after summer holiday.

But there should be a lot of good reasons to look forward to a new school year every time the calendar rolls back around to September.

There are countless kids from kindergarten to Grade 12 who are excited to be back in school classrooms and corridors, hopefully because of the learning opportunities, but also because they want to reconnect with friends, teachers and other school support staff.

This fall semester happens to coincide with the trustee nomination process, when prospective school board members are filling out paperwork for the fall election. Soon, we’ll hear more about who’s running and the different notions they have for education across Campbell River School District schools. With facilities plans ever changing and projects being prioritized and re-prioritized, trustees are often faced with important and challenging decisions about places of learning, where they exist and what programs they house.

We hope for equal education opportunities for everyone, but because of the way the population is distributed in this or any community, schools and their makeup are not alike. Enrolment varies, and so must the resources and programming.

The school experience will be a little different for each child, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There are opportunities for parents, grandparents and other family members to be equalizers, for tutors to assist, and for literacy volunteers to fill gaps.

Back to school isn’t just for kids. When any of us teach, coach, read stories, answer questions for curious kids, pay school taxes or vote, we’re supporting our region’s smart kids and their learning, which never stops.