KANSAS COMMUNITIES DEPEND ON SCHOOLS

It takes all of us to defend the American Dream in Kansas — and we welcome the voices that tell our story. Here is a guest blog from Gary Scott, a lifelong Kansan and champion of the role of public schools in local communities.

Like an axel with two wheels, Kansas communities and Kansas public schools rely on one another. If one stops working, the other won’t work either.

I was born and raised in Eudora, a small town in eastern Douglas County. In the time since I graduated from EHS, I have had a front row seat to the ways that schools help build a quality community. After teaching and coaching for four years out of college, I’ve spent the last three decades working in parks and recreation positions, including a 20-year career in Liberal.

Both in Liberal, and now where I work as the parks and recreation director in Eudora, I have witnessed first hand the way that schools define a community. When the school district succeeds, it reflects on the community as a whole. In Eudora, families choose to settle and raise children here, largely because of the schools. There is less vandalism and graffiti in the parks and public spaces. Local businesses even adjust their operations around the needs and schedules of students, school employees and families.

We Eudorans are tremendously proud of our town. We’re proud of our schools, as well as the city services, the local churches, the business owners and the families who choose to live here. If you remove any of these things from the equation, our town will suffer. We truly depend on the state’s investment in our local public schools. Just like the axel with two wheels, we simply can’t move forward and prosper without it.