It’s mid-September, and local schools are about to hit the one-month mark of their school year.

Time definitely flies. I’m sure it doesn’t seem so to the kids in school, but it seems like yesterday when I was playing football and other activities with my friends at Cassville R-IV.

When I think of growing up, visions and voices from these activities instantly come to mind, which bring happiness to me. These sights and sounds were the soundtrack and movie of my youth at Cassville R-IV. They, along with my parents, helped shape me as a person and prepared me for life after school.

It is certainly a busy time of year for the students in the local school, as well as for all of the teachers, coaches, bus drivers and school staff. There are more activities and opportunities for kids to be involved in than ever before. These opportunities for involvement can provide kids with skills and aptitudes that can be life changing.

I witnessed a great example of this a couple of weeks ago. CHS FBLA advisor, Melanie Grossman, brought a group of her FBLA students to speak to the Cassville Rotary Club. I was blown away by the poise and confidence exhibited by these fine young men and women.

I applaud the schools for adapting with the times and adding activities that can reach out to kids beyond the traditional means. For example, students who have a passion for technology have extracurricular options open to them that didn’t exist a few years ago.

From these avenues, they have the opportunities to sharpen their skills and minds, which can lead to meaningful career choices for these young men and women.

Another great aspect of being involved is learning how to handle adversity and defeat. As Willie Nelson once said, “No one goes through life undefeated.”

I loved being a part of the jazz band, football, basketball, track and other extracurricular activities in school. We got to experience some wonderful victories and we also came up short a time or two.

In fact, at the end of the day, we had more losses in football than victories. My dear friends, Paul Preddy and Michael LeCompte, used to joke that we came away with more great stories and life lessons from some of our terrible football losses than from the victories we experienced.

Billy Joel had a hit song, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” which was about a seemingly perfect young couple, Brenda and Eddie, who peaked too early in life and then weren’t prepared for life’s adversity and challenges. My friends used to joke that if Brenda and Eddie had been cheering and playing for the 1980 Wildcats football team, they might have had a better chance of surviving the tough times ahead of them.

The 1980 season was definitely a tough one. But, the resiliency we learned from that season certainly helped many of us later in life.

Ultimately, the goal of all of the various activities is to allow students to gain life changing skills and to lead to graduation from high school. As I have mentioned many times, the impact of a high school diploma is extremely significant.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that high school graduates earn over $670 more per week than those without a high school diploma. Over the course of the year, that adds up to nearly $10,000. Over the course of a normal career that amounts to over $300,000 in additional earnings for a high school graduate.

I wish all of the local students and school staff a rewarding year as they pursue the various activities and opportunities ahead of them.

Jon Horner is a local community bank president, published author, and motivational speaker. He can be reached at jonhorner77@gmail.com.