Step forward

Dear Editor,

Recently I was asked by one of my friends to report on my thoughts regarding the proposed new construction in the McCook school system, specifically the renovation and addition at North Ward Elementary.

My first exposure with the project was at a Rotary meeting where Tom Bredvick was the guest speaker. Tom's topic was the background and need for a new bond issue that is on next Tuesday's primary election ballot.

I was not only impressed with Tom's professional presentation but with the merit of the content of his talk. At the conclusion of his talk I asked him but one qu-estion, "If I were starting school now would I know as much at my present age as I do now?" His reply was "MORE." His reply made sense to me.

I have spent most of my life living, learning and participating in this community.

All of my formal education, except for attending medical school in the mid 1930s and my absence during the war years of the 1940s, has taken place here in our community. All of the school buildings I attended as a youth in McCook are long gone.

As the older buildings became less efficient and effective and were not large enough for the growing needs of our community's children they were retired and new ones built in their places. The community is no longer growing in size but the educational needs of our children continue to grow. Much like the battery powered hand held calculators, which replaced the slide rulers of my era, computers have replaced those calculators. Now is the time to improve the learning environment by passage of the bond issue.

Our society is a dynamic one and the educational needs to be successful today and in the future are every changing. Once, most of our graduating children remained in McCook, but today that is not true. We are the dominant member of an international society and our children are scattered over the world. We must have the educational facilities to help our children become successful in this world.

Our parents and grandparents provided for our educational needs NOW it is time that we step forward and do the same for the current and future generations of children in McCook.

Please join me and other visionaries in McCook by voting "YES" on the school bond issue to see to the needs of this community's children.

John Batty M.D.

McCook