New school year brings opportunity, promise to Mat-Su

Local schools opened their doors again this week as eager students returned to classrooms for the start of a new year.

It seems like just last week we were congratulating the graduating class of 2013. But just as surely as calendar pages flip, focus shifts from the celebration of a job well done to the promise that new beginnings always bring.

For students, there is the promise of new lessons, even if their benefit cannot yet be fully understood. Away from the books, there is the promise of new friends and new experiences that can bring immeasurable benefit, too.

For teachers, there is the promise of new opportunity — and awesome responsibility — that comes with the challenge of shaping a new group of young minds and helping to shepherd young lives toward responsible adulthood. This is no small task, and we are all indebted to teachers for the work they do.

Public education is a bulwark of American democracy. It is as foundational to our national DNA as apple pie and baseball.

Without public education, an educated populace capable of reading, writing and doing basic math would not be the norm. And our greatness as a nation would be diminished.

The transformational power of education should never be taken for granted. In every facet of our daily lives, we benefit from a thriving public education system. The investment of public dollars in education provides exponential returns.

So we greet this new school year with hope and excitement.

Here in the Mat-Su, we are fortunate to have a talented and dedicated group of educators. Their commitment to the task at hand, and the results of that commitment, show that putting kids first is more than just a nice idea.

But their job cannot be completed successfully in a vacuum. Classroom success requires commitment from families, too. A little involvement in the education process goes a long way.

So we greet this new school year with excitement and great hope. We look forward to sharing the stories of student successes in these pages in the coming months.