by James C. Sherlock
Sometimes it is fun to acknowledge great work.
For a wonderful story about schools and kids transformed for the better by local action, see “The Rutters of Athens County” from New York Magazine reprinted in the Intelligencer.
It is beautifully written by Dan Xin Huang, an investigative journalist who lived in Ohio for three years to create this story.
His work was funded in part with a 2020 grant from NYU’s Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award. It was featured in One Great Story, New York Magazine’s reading recommendation newsletter.
He and his work have proven worthy of all of that.
The author unfolds the story of a school district reformation in a series of individual conversations over several years with those directly involved, many with contrasting viewpoints.
School change to achieve excellence takes leadership at the local level first, especially in Virginia, given our constitution.
For those who need inspiration to engage in that quest, this should do it.
