As a new school year approaches with one public education issue after another, it seems parents might find it useful to put aside politics and focus on what their children really need to succeed in school - and I'm not talking paper and pencils.

As the most senior full-time teacher in District 271 - or so I've been told - I find it hard to start my 36th year here with the wide-eyed excitement of a young teacher, but after countless parent/teacher conferences I can supply experience, and experience has taught me that with an average of only five hours a week of contact with your child in the secondary schools, any teacher welcomes parental help in dealing with the effects of the other 163 hours of your child's week. So the following is a list of real ways parents can help teachers help kids:

• Help us with attitude, which is far more important than aptitude. Statistics consistently show that our best schools, public or private, have "buy-in" from the students as well as from the teachers. If school is viewed by your child as just another hoop to jump through, that's about all it will be. Whatever it takes, get your kid to buy-in to the idea that education enriches lives. I can't tell you how to do this with your child, but I can tell you that if you have a negative view of schools, so will your children. And, sadly, it won't be long before the school views itself that way. Our best schools don't view themselves as hoops.

• Help us with food for thought by helping your child with food for the body. The belly is the body's second brain and we know that nutrition and education are indelibly linked. Hungry stomachs don't equal hungry minds. And let's face it, Mountain Dew and chips, while convenient, are not nutritious. I wince whenever I see some kid at 7:30 a.m. gulping a tall soft drink, and lately I have been wincing so often it's become a nervous twitch.

• Help us get across to kids that what they wear matters. If parents would enforce the dress code at home, schools could concentrate more on the curriculum and less on clothing. And here's a hint: labels about sex, drugs, and alcohol do not contribute to an educational climate. Neither does an excessive amount of skin. It amazes me that kids who do not want school uniforms don't see how wearing inappropriate items argues against them. Perhaps parents could point this out.

• Help your child get enough sleep. Studies continue to show that the brain, especially in teens, needs adequate sleep to function properly. In fact, a sleep-deprived brain is almost as bad as a drugged or drunk one, which, sadly, is also a problem at school. We know the facts about sleep but we ignore them. Even the school system does it. We know that young kids are ready to learn earlier in the day than teens, yet for reasons of cost and convenience we continue to start class before 8 a.m. for teens and later for elementary kids. Teens need more sleep than the rest of us and tend to try to get it in class if they don't get it at home. Maybe I'm not as boring as the droopy eyes watching me in class imply. At least that's the excuse I'm using.

• Help us by not calling or texting your kids during the school day. Yes, we have rules about this, but it is hard enough to keep kids away from their electronic gadgets without them using the excuse that Mom or Dad is trying to reach them.

• Help us teach your kids the difference between public and private behavior. When I started teaching here back in the Pleistocene it was an expectation that students would come from home with decent manners and consideration for others. Now it is a pleasant surprise to find one who realizes that what he or she might say or do with family or a few friends around an isolated campfire in the forest is not the same behavior one should exhibit around a crowded cafeteria table. Most parents know the difference between a public setting and a private one. Please pass it on to the next generation.

• Please help your child value class time. The best way to do that is to value it as parents. And if you do value it, it may surprise some of you to know that your children do not seem to realize that class goes on even if they are not there. Teachers try hard to get that obvious point across, but tardiness and absences are bigger problems every year, no matter what policies we adopt. Without help from home, teachers will be continually dealing with empty desks or students trickling in right up until class ends. Punishment from the school apparently makes very little difference.

• And speaking of punishment: Please don't use school or homework as a form of punishment. Rewarding kids by letting them skip school or homework has the same effect. It makes them feel like they are being punished every time they go to school or crack open a textbook.

There are many "alternative" forms of education today, but teachers in any situation and of any age would welcome your help with this list. At least that's what my experience teaches me.

Mike Ruskovich is a Blanchard resident.