Becky Woolard is a first grade teacher with Beaufort County Schools. In addition to her 34 years as a teacher, the Washington resident also teaches adult education classes part time at Beaufort County Community College.

I believe in a great education for all students. Having taught first grade for 34 years, I know that education comes from families and teachers working together. I have witnessed the effects of positive parenting experiences such as parents reading to their children, exposing their children to educational materials and participating in the programs provided by Child Connections which help prepare children to enter school.

Unfortunately, some students enter school never having the opportunity to listen to stories, play with educational materials, attend prekindergarten centers or have ideal family experiences. I have witnessed some heart-breaking experiences in my teaching career. For example, a child rushing to the cafeteria to eat because he or she did not have food at home, shoes and clothes thrown on their tiny, unbathed bodies and wearing the same clothes several days in a row. These children know they are different, and it is a terrible hurt. I well remember the day a child walked in with her blouse on backward. This was one of the times the child had worn the same clothes for several days. It was dirty and had food on the front, so she turned it around not realizing it was dirty in the back. Some of the children never know who or what they will find at home. I have also heard children use ugly language because they say that’s the only things their parents say at home. These children love school because it is the only place where they feel love and security.

When I look at the news, read information and listen to some of the suggestions for improving these hard times, I ask myself, “What’s going to happen to our students?” Getting rid of teachers, assistants and making larger classrooms is not the solution. All students are individuals with individual needs. Young children need assistants and smaller class sizes. What happens when a child gets sick, a problem arises, someone gets hurt or you need to encourage a child or stop a disagreement among students? How can one person be expected to correct the problems as well as continue teaching?

We owe our students the opportunity to get a good education. As adults, we are where we are because we had great teachers in our schools, teachers who could concentrate on providing quality education. Now, teachers have to be everything, including nurse, counselor, parent and encourager. A teacher’s job is never done. There’s always papers to grade, activities to plan, tests to prepare, lesson plans to do and preparations to make for the next day. I urge you to remember the children who are neglected, abused or lacking positive home experiences who walk in classrooms throughout Beaufort County Schools when making decisions dealing with education.

Children who are not ready affect the entire class as they steal additional time away from instruction at the expense of children who are prepared and ready to learn. It makes perfect sense that if more children are prepared for school, then the more teachers can do their “real” job and teach the children, therefore, everyone succeeds. School preparedness or the lack thereof affects your child and the amount of instruction he or she receives. The unpreparedness of the student in your child’s class may not cause your child to fall behind in their studies, but it can affect your child’s ability to excel by cheating him/her out of quality instruction time.

Our children are our future. Our success depends on them. Help ensure our success by supporting early childhood education.

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