Students and faculty of Jackson Middle School welcomed Governor Jay Nixon on Wednesday as he highlighted the Jackson school district's efforts, and the importance of continuing education after high school.
The Jackson school district was honored for their high test scores in the Missouri School Improvement Program 5 exam, but Gov. Nixon also took the time to highlight the importance of higher education in Missouri.
“There’s an old saying that governors go where good things are happening and consequently I’m not here by accident. In the same way that your teachers grade you, the state has a system to grade schools and this year we made the test a little harder,” Nixon said.
The Jackson School District received a 92.5 percent on the statewide exam’s first year, which according to Gov. Nixon is ‘really high’. The governor went on to explain how students today will be competing for jobs with students all over the world and the importance of continuing on to higher education after high school.
“Because the competition for the jobs of the future are worldwide - the competition is global also. So your competition is not just not just you against Cape, or Sikeston, or De Soto, or Festus or whatever. It’s against students doing exactly what you’re doing at the exact same age in Beijing, London, all over the world,” Nixon said
Gov. Nixon pointed out how Missourians are capable of anything, and gave examples like Missourians Walt Disney and Edwin Hubble who went on to accomplish a great deal in their lifetimes.
“We’re at a key defining moment for our state - whether we’re going to take those additional resources and invest them in the education system that we have to improve it or not and I quite frankly believe we need to do just that,” Nixon said.
With said improvements Gov. Nixon thinks schools can achieve more - smaller class sizes, more technology, better prepared teachers, and more challenging courses.
“You can’t make schools better unless a community supports them and you certainly can’t make it better unless you support teachers. We’re not here to criticize we’re here to support,” Nixon said.