Dear Editor,

I love the city of St. Clairsville and the communities that surround it. The foundation of communities like ours is formed from the relationships that we build with one another — relationships that provide the support and friendship we lean on the rest of our lives.

This foundation is common to all aspects of our community, including our churches, businesses, homes and schools.

For 13 years of their lives, our children spend the majority of their time in a school facility learning to build these relationships with their peers and teachers.

Aside from the home, there is no other place that children spend more time developing their character, preparing for the future and, most importantly, learning to work with one another.

Though we as a community have no control over the home life of each child that resides within our district, we do have the ability to provide each child with an educational facility that makes opportunity equally accessible to them all. As our world changes, opportunities change.

We might be tempted to look at St. Clairsville’s current facilities and think, “It was good enough for me then, it’s good enough for students now.”

However, when these buildings were constructed in the early to mid-1900s, they were constructed to meet the needs of an industrial workforce — a workforce where a young adult could go into the world, land a good-paying manufacturing job and start a life.

That world no longer exists.

Our world is still rich in opportunities, but not the same opportunities of 100 or even 50 years ago.

Our children are entering a global workforce based on informational and technology skills. They are entering a workforce that requires cross-cultural collaboration, problem-solving and creativity.

(School) buildings (need to be) constructed to meet the needs of a workforce that exists today. More importantly, they cannot provide access to the opportunities of tomorrow.

Through our community can provide a solid foundation for our children, our schools must be equipped to provide them the tools they need to build on it. Together, let’s BUILD ST. C!

Justin Sleutz

St. Clairsville