By Phil Kirk

As the former chairman of the state board of education for six and one-half years, one of the biggest challenges I saw as I toured more than 750 schools covering all 100 counties in our state was the lack of engagement between students and teachers in some of our schools. This “boredom” with schools can be attacked in several ways.

One is through effective efforts at teaching reading in the early grades. Progress is being made by use of the science of reading in teaching young students how to read. Reading proficiency ways early in a child’s early intervention through effective pre-school learning opportunities is certainly one way, but every child does not have the opportunity for Smart Start and More-at-Four.

There are many good afterschool activities which can help a child “catch up” with his or her peers. However, I believe the most successful after-school program is an effective and well-financed Boys and Girls Club. Neighboring Cabarrus and Iredell, for example, have successful Boys and Girls Clubs. While local communities have the flexibility to provide the appropriate programming for that community, I have found that these clubs do it “right.” Afternoon, early evening and Saturday programming typically have the right mix of academic work and fun learning activities.

I understand that my friends, John Leatherman and Charles Patton and others, are working toward the creation of a Boys and Girls Club in Rowan County. They need financial support, strong volunteer network and creative leadership to be successful. As a native of Rowan County, I urge citizens to learn more about this type of club and support it with your time and money. In the long run, I believe you will see an improvement not only in students’ school work but in attitudes about learning and especially the importance of good attendance in school. This will ultimately reduce the dropout problem and improve the graduation rate in Rowan-Salisbury schools.

I know we are all busy; however, I hope that there will be enough interest for efforts to start a Boys and Girls Club. I will be following the progress on this bold initiative with a great deal of interest.,

Phil Kirk is a native of Rowan County and taught at Knox and Salisbury High, in addition to being a state senator from Rowan in the early ’70s.