“I believe the children are our future… teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside.”

These lyrics from the late, great Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All” ring especially true as Anson County parents sent their children back to school this week.

For some children, it was the first day in a new school — kindergarten, middle school or high school — while others were experiencing the first day of their last year in a particular school, as they’ll move on to middle school, high school, college, military or the work force.

It can be a scary — and an exciting — time for parents and their children.

For the first time in many years, North Carolina students no longer have to worry about meeting the nation’s stringent No Child Left Behind targets. Instead, North Carolina was granted a waiver to come up with its own measures for student success. Hopefully, this new era in public schools will bring about a renewed feeling of success and accomplishment for our students, and less feelings of failure and disappointment.

We’ve all heard the complaints and concerns about our local school system and sure, no school system is perfect. But our teachers, administrators and staff are working hard every day to ensure that students meet their goals, not just now, at the start of the year, but all year long.

As a community, let’s do all we can to support our schools and their leaders, and in turn, support our own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends as they continue on their path to becoming successful adults.

Because, as Whitney Houston sang, “the children are our future.”