Excellent

Sometimes you can look to your past to determine your future. Say what? How can that be?
Several months ago I had the pleasure of spending nearly two hours with a local business couple. I had asked about Frank Christy, a sports figure at Marietta High School in the late 1950s.
This couple has the yearbooks from many decades and knows the 50s very well. They were classmates with Mr. Christy. They had the stories and the memories to share and it was like stepping back in time.
Imagine taking your family up the hill to what is now the Middle School but was then the High School. It’s a Friday night and there is a football game. In Chillicothe.
In the parking lot at the top of the hill you gather with other local families and there are two squad cars from the Washington County Sheriffs Office. One of them will go to the foot of the hill to the stoplight. The other will remain at the top of the hill to be the last car to leave the lot.
At the appointed time the procession begins and the traffic leaves the hill headed for Chillicothe and a great night of football rivalry. A cruiser in front and one in back to guide the flock.
The procession never stops for a stop sign or red light the entire trip. Radio calls have local police positioned to protect the intersections and the procession goes right on through with their help.
I’m told this was not an isolated event. It happened often And it was not just a Marietta phenomenon. Other communities with great teams were accorded similar concessions. The pride in team and school ran deep. It was hard won, earned and respected. There was no Super Bowl but everyone knew who the best teams were.
That pride in team carried over into the classroom. An eagerness to learn was encouraged by enforcing strict adherence to academic achievement. And that eagerness spilled over to the non-athletes as well. There was a sense of pride in achievement. Of being associated with a winning team.
This story could just as well be told about the days when our marching band had 200 members. Or when our forensic team earned statewide recognition. Or many other individual distinctions that have come our way by excelling in one or another category.
Admittedly it takes a fortunate combination of able participants, talented and willing coaches/teachers and community support to achieve such stellar performance. Some of those components are determined more by chance than choice. But we can always look at our resources and determine what is important to us and how to make the most of our current assets.
While the subjects of new building possibilities, funding shortages and stimulus monies have been upper most on minds and in conversations lately, there have been ongoing efforts to craft a map that will give direction for the future of the district based on its current status in all categories.
Future boards and administrators will not have to guess what the community wants or needs. There will be a clear and precise agreed upon journey that can be referred to in making decisions. The direction will be known; though changeable if necessitated by outside forces. And always subject to improvement.
We may be a long way from having another team like the ones in the 50s. But we are only decisions and planning away from being excellent in the areas that are of value to us today. Finding and employing best methods and practice can take us there.