Public education in Alabama has taken its share of hard knocks from the national media and education critics in recent years but that doesn’t hold water when you see the pace of learning that is taking place today in Hartselle, Decatur and Morgan County classrooms.

Many good things are happening in our schools.

I was reminded of that when I visited Priceville Elementary School a couple of weeks ago for a Student Leader Day program.

It got me to thinking that the good habit-forming emphasis of today’s Leader in Me schools is similar to what was expected of students that attended rural schools more than a half-century ago.

Under the banner of Seven Habits of Effective People, PES students planned and presented a program on the Seven Habits for an audience of community leaders,  conducted a school-wide tour and showed and explained completed classroom work. On a daily basis, student leaders serve as greeters, pick up litter, carry out trash and perform other voluntary tasks.

Likewise, in the past children learned good work habits at an early age and, used them as a springboard to become productive citizens.

They all had chores to do at home and over time they became as automatic as the rising and setting of the sun,

It was not unusual for a toddler to have the job of gathering eggs from the henhouse (carefully) or carrying in wood for the cook stove and fire place.

Older siblings were expected to do much more, such as drawing water from the well, milking the cows or working in the fields.

They were assigned chores at school, too. Volunteers started fires in the big coal heaters and kept them burning throughout the day, Others emptied the pencil sharpeners, cleaned the blackboards and picked up litter on the school grounds.

While the amenities of education today are far superior to what they were in the 1940’s and 1950’s, the essence of a good education has not changed.

It’s still all about forming good study habits, striving for excellence and building positive character traits that will make us who we are for the remainder of our lives.

Clif Knight is a staff writer for the Hartselle Enquirer.