Our View: Let's hail those who taught area's children

Congratulations to the Stark County All-Star educators, chosen from among the area’s public and private districts and schools. And a special shout-out to Janelle Hart, from Marlington Local Schools, who was selected from among all the highlighted veteran and rookie teachers to be the county’s Teacher of the Year. 

Now is an ideal time to reflect on teachers, their interactions with students, and the synergy that produces so many accomplishments both inside and outside area classrooms. Over the next few weeks, schools will be ringing the bell for the final time this school year, heralding the advent of summer vacation. 

Ask most teachers and they will share how challenging the last nine months have been. Some students returned to in-person learning for the first time since March 2020, when the coronavirus initially started to disrupt daily life. Almost all students wore masks for at least part of the year. And many had their education further disrupted, unavoidably, by various quarantines due to exposure or potential exposure. 

Add all that to the normal learning losses each summer and the expected challenges that always come from working with energetic young people and it becomes evident that this would be a year unlike any other in recent memory. Some teachers will even say this school year was more challenging than the one that preceded it, if only because students, especially very young ones, had to be reintroduced to the very concept of school. 

Still, teachers in our various districts persevered, forging partnerships with kids, parents, guardians and other stakeholders to help make up for the lost learning and to give students experiences that will last a lifetime.

They didn’t do it in isolation. Administrators, bus drivers, cooks, custodians and various support staff played an integral part, as they always do. 

So we salute everybody whose work made it possible for kids to resume some semblance of normalcy this year, with a special tip of the chalk tray — or whiteboard marker, or even computerized tablet — to Marlboro Elementary’s Janelle Hart and the rest of the county’s all-star team. 

Alliance applies for its share 

The City of Alliance took unfortunate but necessary steps recently to collect its share of money from Ohio’s opioid settlement fund. 

It’s unfortunate because it speaks to the scourge that opioids have been to so many Ohioans, including those in the greater Alliance area, just as the epidemic has affected so many victims across the nation. 

Substance abuse affects not only the people addicted. It also impacts their families, friends and colleagues. Their loss is felt in churches, schools and civic organizations. If they are not able to work, they impact an area’s tax revenues, even as their treatment costs other taxpayers. 

Any money received from the state fund will be used to expand treatments for those dealing with substance abuse. Currently, city officials don’t know how much money the state will release to them, but the payout is expected sometime over the summer. 

Readers who are dealing with substance abuse issues are urged to seek help. Calling 1-800-662-HELP (4357) is a first step toward finding local treatment options.