What would you do with $1,500?

That’s a question each school in the Neosho R-5 School District will get to answer after the Neosho R-5 Foundation announced its donation of $15,000 to the district at Thursday night’s fourth annual Excellence in Education banquet.

And what a night it was.

In a continuation of positive feedback from the recent expansion of the district with the new George Washington Carver Elementary School and the renovations at the high school, the foundation decided to honor the patrons of the district at the banquet.

In the past, the district honored school or student organizations, with past honorees including the speech and debate team, the Parents as Teachers organization and the FFA. But this year, it seemed only fitting to recognize the contributions the patrons of the school district made in light of the passage of the April 2006 bond issue that funded the new elementary school and high school renovations.

During his keynote address, former Crowder College president Dr. Kent Farnsworth talked about how other countries are passing the United States by in the number of high school graduates and college graduates each year.

In the early 1980s, the U.S. ranked first in both categories. Now, our country ranks 12th and 16th, respectively, Farnsworth stated.

He said that’s because other countries place a higher value on education. Instead of investing in the best roads and other needs and services, those communities in other countries invest in their schools first.

He talked about how he believes the school system is the heart of any community.
We couldn’t agree more.

Building better schools should be priority No. 1 in a community. Giving our children the best tools available to educate their minds seems to us the best investment of all.

In April 2006, the patrons of Neosho decided to make that investment and we believe it has paid off.

The next time a bond issue is placed before voters — which could be as soon as August 2008 or April 2009 — to further improve our schools, let’s hope we decide to invest in our children again.

DAILY NEWS