A couple of sayings have been politicized and overused to the point they feel trite: “It’s all about the kids” and “It takes a village.”

But you readers know these are some of the most true statements of our child-rearing years.
From the moment you first glance your newborn,

until, well, forever, your kids are the top priority. Nothing comes even close. That’s why you read Growing Up and that’s what we strive to bring you. We want to let you know about things you can do in the community including schools, after school activities, and add medical, legal and parenting advice.

We also want your input and advice for other readers. We love stories from community members, photos, kids art work and we are publishing more and more of them.

We’ve got several teen and slightly older writers in this issue. Mikayla Shults interviewed high school kids about what they want for their futures and then did one of the most important pieces of journalism around, presenting the “I Weigh” community in which students share their revelations about how “Your Body is Not Wrong.” They posted these on Instagram originally.

Did your schools have newspapers or media stations when you were growing up? John Koenig tracks the state of high school journalism today, and we can tell you it’s not good, but there is some hope. You want eating healthy advice? Check out Gretchen McNeilis’ research on pro and prebiotics. Looking for fun: we’ve got the scoop from Erik Chalhoub on the new Boardwalk rides. Stuck in the car for hours with the kids. Yup, we have a great column there by Jhonee Fillmore. We hope you think this is one of our best issues ever.
Meanwhile there are two other things on the front burner. Kids Day is March 21 from noon to 4p.m. Last year it was a blast to see so many families take over parts of downtown that were closed to cars. There will be music, dance, entertainment, schools, art, face painting, photos and everything for families. Last year was a huge success and this one will be even bigger.

Then, we want to get political for a minute: There are a lot of things to decide on March 3, but for us one of the most important is the Cabrillo Bond issue, to start new and much needed buildings on the half century old campuses in Watsonville and Aptos. It will cost a couple of hundred dollars a year for many homeowners, but the results are priceless.

We support it not just because we have studied and worked there, but having a state of the art affordable campus brings so much value to the community, both in what you can offer students in finding jobs and knowledge, but also in what it does for your home value to have a top quality institution in your back yard. Read George Ow’s letter in this issue for more about it.

The philosopher Confucius said it best: “If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children. ”

Thanks for reading
Brad Kava, Jennifer Ford
and Steve Dinnen