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One's name is Kiana. Another's is Madison. And my first was Hailey.
The young girls with whom I’ve been fortunate enough to read during lunch on Wednesdays help keep me tethered to this singular truth: Children deserve our best.
They deserve our best efforts to offer them the best starts in their young lives in order to help them grow into their best.
And the mentoring program I participate in is among a myriad of local efforts aimed at helping kids receive the educational and social tools they need to become magnificent adults.
Each year, the girl I’m working with seems to beam like the sun whenever I walk into her classroom. The sight of all of the girls’ smiles continually makes my commitment to devote time to their school nothing less than pure joy.
I’ve listened as one girl stretched to pronounce and comprehend new words. I’ve watched as another girl gained confidence in reading out loud. I’ve marveled at the insights that one girl held into the meanings of different stories.
And each Wednesday, I’ve been comforted by the thought that one day all of these girls will become young women capable of achieving far more than I’ve ever dared to dream.
That’s why it’s refreshing that the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce plans to maintain education as a priority for the organization’s attention.
Among the 2007-08 priorities the chamber recently unveiled was this initiative: To provide continued business community involvement, support and leadership at all levels of public and private education seeking quality outcomes.
Great.
There’s simply no better way the organization – or any individual, for that matter – can expend energy and resources than to help a child.
Yes, of course, there are common-sense, long-term economic development concerns that fuel the chamber’s continued support.
Chamber officials point to the connection between work-force development and economic development. And the chamber’s support of all levels of education throughout the community – from early education to graduate research – already is evident.
The chamber is involved heavily in developing the $6.3 million Center for Graduate Education and Applied Research. The GEAR Center, which will be connected to the new University Center in northwest Sioux Falls, will house research activities.
The chamber also was instrumental in helping launch an early childhood education pilot program called Starting Strong in the Sioux Empire.
The program – a collaboration of the Sioux Empire United Way, Forward Sioux Falls V, the Sioux Falls School District and Gov. Mike Rounds’ office – gives economically disadvantaged 3- and 4-year-olds access to pre-kindergarten programs.
The idea is based on research that shows that children enrolled in a preschool program are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college and be employed in higher-earning jobs.
“These kids will be better workers, better students. ... They’ll become a benefit to society,” Jay Powell, executive director of the United Way, recently told the Business Journal.
These kinds of efforts are pictures of good economic development in action. But they’re also more than that.
They help give students the tools they need to become their best.
That’s exactly what kids such as Kiana, Madison and Hailey deserve.
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