If you have read any of my columns, you probably know that I am data-driven and look for trends and tendencies in the numbers. That probably stems from my accounting/economics degree and life-long vocation as a banker. However, if I have learned anything about life in my 42 years of being in business and a parent to seven, I know that statistics are not a great indicator of educational outcomes. One does not need an advanced degree to figure this out. Education is difficult, even for the most learned.

That being said, Bourbon County school districts rank fairly well statistically when compared to other SEK counties, especially in the area of pupil/teacher ratio: we are at 13.4 compared to a state-wide range of 9.0 to 26.3. Consistently, studies show that this is one of the top indicators of positive outcomes.

If a school rating system can be believed (I am not convinced), we are not so fortunate. Schooldigger.com ranks all 270 Kansas districts on various criteria, and rates them one star to five star, and puts them in ranking order. Uniontown ranked 155^th, moving up 41 spots from the previous year, and achieved a 2-star rating. Fort Scott ranked 221^st, moving up 16 spots, but only merited a 1 star. Whether or not these rating systems really mean anything may not occur to parents looking move to Bourbon County; they may only look at the number.

As it pertains to a community college, you may remember a previous column that references James Fallows’ 54,000-mile journey around the USA to learn why some small towns are succeeding where others are not. Having a vibrant community college was one of the consistent eleven factors he identified. Some complain about the additional tax burden, but I believe the college is a major positive in Bourbon County.

Most importantly, study after study shows that there is no more relevant factor to drive student achievement than parental involvement; it is not even close. None of us can or should go into every home in Bourbon County to make sure children are ready and motivated to learn. We all know that some children do not show up to school prepared (or even interested) to learn. We can’t expect a school district to fill in all parental gaps, no matter how well-funded they are, or how many advanced degrees their teachers possess.

What can we do? If Bourbon County is your home, consider that the schools are partly your responsibility. It does not matter if you are an empty-nester like me or never had children, the schools of the county, public and private, belong to all of us. Consider how you can get involved in our schools and community college to be a resource. Use the time, talent, and treasure God gave you to continue to invest in education. Don’t wait till they organize a program to suit you. Take the initiative in collaboration with the boards, administrations, and teachers, and let us all commit to this important economic development factor, education.

When it became apparent that Covid-19 was nothing to mess with, some people ignored its warning signs. One went so far as to host a party simply to prove he was fearless in the wake of this pandemic. Others, knowing they should be quarantined, conducted business as usual. Selfishness at its finest.

It reminds me of a story I heard years ago. It began with a mouse looking through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package; what food might it contain? He was aghast to discover that it was a mousetrap! Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning, “There is a mousetrap in the house, there is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell you this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me; I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house.” “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow who replied, “Like wow Mr. Mouse, a mousetrap; am I in grave danger? So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey was heard throughout the house. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now, everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well. In fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.

I think this parable is one we all should consider. In Matthew 7:12 Jesus states, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” The moral of the story is this: the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.