Even though my sophomore daughter at Marshalltown High School, Mia, may not agree with me, this is a pretty exciting time for me and for our community … school’s back in session! Although you may have heard me say this a number of times before, I’ll say it again … education and what comes along with it, is the No. 1 driver of strong economic development in a community. A community with a strong and advancing education system is a community that will be strong and advancing itself, now and in the future.

We are fortunate here in Marshalltown to have some strong education systems within our midst. Whether that be the Marshalltown school district, St. Francis Catholic School, Marshalltown Christian School, or Marshalltown Community College; we are blessed with choices and blessed with many education professionals that put their heart and soul into caring for and educating our children, along with we, as adult learners. With the start of a new school year at hand, let’s not forget to say thank you to all of our educators for all the very important work that they do each and every day. Teachers, administrators, staff at all levels, and school board members … thank you for all you do.

With my economic development hat on, I am always looking for ways that we can positively differentiate ourselves from other communities; it’s the positive differentiation that gets noticed. One way to differentiate ourselves is through our educational opportunities. Here in Marshalltown … the “STEM Capital of the World” … we continue to improve upon our STEM prowess. As we begin our new school year, we take pride in the fact that we received the largest amount of dollars from the Governor’s STEM Council — $60,000 — to implement a “game changing” ST Math curriculum in all of our elementary schools, and $37,000 to help launch Project Lead the Way in our elementary schools. And in our Marshalltown Collabo-munity manner, our community has once again stepped up to make ST Math a reality. Dr. Schutte will announce the exciting details of how we are bringing ST Math to all of our elementary schools in the days ahead.

So yes, we have lots to be excited about Mia, with the beginning of another school year. We are fortunate to live in a community that truly cares about education. And remember Mia, education is economic development!

#Marshalltown Vibe #Marshalltown Pride #Bobcat Pride

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David Barajas is CEO of the Marshalltown Regional Partnership.