Katie and Holt, my youngest daughter and son in law, invested in a great re-landscape of their yard in Boise over the last year. It was intended for their beautiful daughter Clio and for family and friends. The backyard has a large open Gazebo like structure that includes a television set and music system. A large grass area has room for a full sized netted trampoline. A large concrete area allows bike, tricycle, razor and skateboarding. A putting green is available along with a playhouse. It has been the gathering spot for our families as we have observed the CDC, State and Boise City guidelines. This week the new plantings came to life and on the stone walk way that leads to the play area-three impressive annabelle hydrangeas were in full bloom. I was taking Margie to play in the yard and she noticed the blooms – I told her they were hydrangeas, her reply, waving at the flowers—hi! Drangia. Made sense to her – I had asked her to say hello to the flowers. My efforts to explain the name of the flower were fruitless … I could not stop laughing at her enthusiastic play on words. The innocence and imagination of youth is priceless. I wish every child lived in a loving, supportive world.
Back to school – a critical element in the development of our children. I am a firm believer in public schools and am hopeful our Idaho leaders design a safe protocol to allow schools to fully re open. We have all learned a lot about effectively working from home and virtual meetings. It does appear that education in the future will require digital access for our students. As our schools closed this spring many districts began to offer on line classes – everyone has a mobile device and access to the internet – correct? Idaho Business for Education, the State Board of Education and the Governor have joined forces with our business community to help solve this problem and Close the Divide. Progress has been made toward providing critical resources but there are 312,000 students in Idaho K-12 schools – 200,000 of those learners do not have computers and an estimated 30,000 do not have affordable wireless access. Please watch for the kickoff of Close the Divide and consider a gift of cash, a used computer, or new equipment. I should not give it away but the campaign t-shirt is worth owning and will remind you of the difference you made with your commitment to Idaho education.
“Every child is a different kind of flower. All together they make this world a beautiful garden.” I enjoyed this analogy from Unique Teaching Resource.
Wear a mask please, it is the right thing to do. Mike