Writing help on the way

Jamie Tobias Neely is absolutely justified in sounding perplexed and frustrated by the inadequate preparation of some students concerning language arts skills. Every college student, especially writing intensive majors, should know that a verb is a word that expresses or shows action. With an English teacher wife, I can report that those same teacher concerns are prevalent at the high school level and that many hours are squandered teaching basic writing skills that should have been mastered years earlier.

The good news that Neely points out is that Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Shelley Redinger is again acting at the fourth-grade level to insert a curriculum that will give students a solid base to build their language arts and writing skills. Hopefully Spokane students will progress through elementary, junior high and high school with the skills that are necessary to succeed at the university level.

Because Redinger is intuitive, informed and not afraid to act, Neely will not have to explain verbs to this year’s fourth-grade students when they arrive at Eastern.

Ed Walther

Spokane