Invest in education, it will pay off

What does it mean to be a community? What joins us together? Whatever the reasons for us residing in the Big Hollow School District, we are joined together by a shared responsibility to insure that our neighborhoods and the larger community are vibrant, prosperous, and continuing.

Just as we each have family responsibilities, we each have a responsibility to address our community's challenges both for the present generation and for those who will take up civic responsibilities in the future. Investing in the future is among our greatest responsibilities and investment in education is perhaps the most fundamental investment in the future we can make.

In providing the youth of our community with the tools to succeed in life, we are in effect, succession planning. We are ensuring that our future leaders have had opportunities to identify and develop their talents, build core skills, and become effective, insightful, civilized adults. If we make sufficient investments in education so that our youthful citizens realize their potentials and dreams we will be building an even stronger community in the process.

Whether we have young children, grown children, or no children, the children who attend Big Hollow schools are the future decision-makers and leaders for all of us. It is our collective responsibility to invest in them. Parents, of course, have specific responsibilities to their children. But it is the responsibility of all of us to invest in the education of our youth.

To meet our responsibility, we as citizens of the Big Hollow School District must join together to make an immediate investment in our schools by voting "yes" on Feb. 5 to the Big Hollow school referendum.

Angela Scaperlanda Bujan

Round Lake