Oppenhagen Column: Another summer vacation is gone; let the school year begin!

I love back-to-school time. It’s refreshing to be back in the classroom, ready for new students with new ideas learned from activities over the summer. As you read this summer, I was able to spend a
couple of weeks in the Arctic and I am really looking forward to sharing the excitement from that experience with my students.

Back-to-school time also enables me to catch up with fellow teachers and meet new staff. Everyone is fresh and eager to start teaching. As it turns out, I had previously met one of my new colleagues
several years ago through our sons. It’s been a long time — her son has graduated college and is now a contributing member of the workforce. And, I’m happy to report, he’s a teacher.

I am very excited about this young man’s arrival to teaching. He is the kind of person that we want in teaching — very, very smart; excellent interpersonal skills; dedicated to the future. And he’s a
graduate of the Prince William County School System to boot. I’m excited to call him a colleague — although it makes me feel a bit old.

I am also very excited about the renovation going on in my school. For the most part, the building is beautiful. I say that because we are still in the middle of the process and so there are workmen there
working every day. That we are involved in a renovation is due to the hard work and dedication of the School Board members who represent my students — Julie Lucas and Denita Ramirez. When
confronted with the possibility that our renovation would be postponed, Ms. Lucas and Ms. Ramirez visited our school, looked at the walls, floors, lockers, etc., and spoke to the teachers about our day-to-
day experiences with the building. They had to fight to include money for the renovation in an already tight budget, but I am certainly glad they did. We are not getting all the modern technology that new
schools get, but we do have an updated building. The spirit of the teachers is already higher and my guess is that the children will have more school spirit when they come in and see the difference.

The other major education news from the summer is the accreditation ratings and “No Child Left Behind” qualifications. As has been the case in the past, our middle schools did not fair well. While they
were accredited, the majority did not make the annual progress required of the No Child Left Behind laws. It is critically important that we focus on our middle school students to help them become
successful. Their success will have an obvious impact on their lives but it will also have an important impact on our lives, whether they are our children or not.

It’s a kind of pay-it-forward situation. By helping each student, we help them to help others, who will in turn help others, etc. The cost of not educating our children is incalculable. Without an education, a
person is more likely to be imprisoned; more likely to rely on the government for financial support; more likely to be employed in a low paying job; more likely to have children who will also be poorly
educated; more likely involved in drugs or violent crimes; and the list continues. It is no longer enough to have a high school diploma; a person needs a college degree to do much of anything in this day
and age. But to get a college degree, you must do well in high school. To do well in high school, you must pass middle school. You must have the skills and knowledge taught in middle school. You
must, if not like, tolerate school enough to put effort into learning the lessons. And as anyone can attest, a teacher holds the key to staying in school. If teachers are supportive, enthusiastic and creative,
students are more likely to have a good opinion of school. And to be successful. And that, after all, is the ultimate goal of the entire school system.

Last year the school board tasked Superintendent Walts to create a proposal for teacher merit pay. As I wrote back then, and will reiterate now, as this gets done, the most important thing to do is to
determine what the goal of merit pay is and how success is going to be measured. Merit pay is a controversial issue and one that is likely to generate much debate in the coming months. It will be
important to listen carefully and judge the plan by its goals.

Let the school year begin. Hooray!

Denise Oppenhagen is a longtime resident of Prince William County and can be reached at DenOp1@comcast.net.