Opinion

It’s the time of year in Arkansas public schools when ACT Aspire test results are released. These tests no more prove that a child or teacher is doing their job and learning is taking place, than quarterly grades determine a child’s success in life. Grading can be subjective, and some children are not adept at test taking.

Can you believe it is just about the half-way mark for summer? If your kids are anything like mine, the battle cries of, “We are bored!” and “What are we doing today?” have started to fill the time between waking up and finishing my first cup of coffee. I always like to hold out on some tricks up my sleeve for August. July is often filled with family visits, sleeping late and the standard quo ice cream, bike trips, pool days and backyard shenanigans. It’s busy and exciting and non-stop with late nights and jam-packed days. Enter August. The back-to-school ads start popping up, supply lists come home and the reading project from school that’s been hanging from the fridge finally gets looked at. Even with all of that, fear not, because there is still plenty of time to kick back and check some items off the “list o’fun”.

Rob Perez CherryRoad Columnist Everything is summer. Summer time.

On North Arm Bay of Lake Minnetonka, Rob sits on the edge of a dock. As the sun sets, Leila the Loon effortlessly floats up.

We are entering a dangerous time in our society when people with knowledge and experience are largely ignored and people with no experience are revered. Suddenly it seems everyone in the world is an expert and anyone with an opinion feels they are an authority.