We started the week with an invitation from Dr. Pierson at Noel Elementary School to attend the unveiling of a mural. It seems that the Art Feeds group had been working with the school administrators to have the children create a mural showing the great diversity in the Noel Elementary School.
There are currently at least 11 different languages spoken in the school. After being told of the project, the children got their heads together and approached the teachers with a question. They wanted to know why they had to show their diversity when they would rather show how they were alike. Pretty simple, huh? Leave it to the kids and they'll blow your mind every time.
The result is located on the side of a building on 303 Main St., in Noel. I'm no art critic, but I know what I like and this mural is amazing. Not only did they represent all 11 flags, but they depicted the landscapes, buildings, types of clothes and animals found in their countries (the shark is really cool). The School Motto is "Every child, every day, whatever it takes," and my hat is sure off to the educators who deal with language and cultural barriers everyday and still manage to do a great job with our kids.
Tuesday evening, I was the guest of the Newton County Cattleman's Club at the Crowder Ag Center. We had a great meal and heard a short legislative update from Senator Mike Parsons from Bolivar. I then gave a short talk on the changes in agriculture over the last 60 years.
In 1950, our population in this country was 150 million people; today it's 310 million. The world population was 2.5 billion and today it's 7.5 billion. That's a lot of additional mouths to feed. U.S. farmers and ranchers have responded to the challenge by doubling and, in some cases, tripling their output. To accomplish this, they have brought into use nearly all the usable farmland in the country, and by the use of fertilizers, chemicals and selective breeding, they have met the challenge.
Today, however, there are forces both within and outside our government that wish to regulate and eliminate the use of the very methods that have made it possible for us to produce this food supply. Taken by itself, this is a very serious problem, but multiply the problem with the predictions that world food needs will double within the next 35 years and we have a disaster looming. Let's hope that those kids in Noel that have figured out how to work together will solve this mess for us.
Friday and Saturday we were at the State Republican Convention in Branson. The worst part of going to Branson is keeping Jane away from all the shopping. When she told me she needed the car keys for a while, I knew I was sunk!
The keynote speaker at dinner Friday evening was John Ashcroft. I greatly admire him for his service both as a governor and as attorney general. He and several of the other speakers over the weekend highlighted the importance of political parties working together to achieve their common goals. Maybe we should have had those kids from Noel speak to us.
My calendar for this week is full also. I'll fill you in later. Until then, I am and remain in your service.
State Rep. Bill Lant may be reached by calling 417-437-8223 or 573-751-9801, or emailing [email protected]. Opinions are those of the author.
Community on 05/26/2016