By BETHANY BLITZ

Staff Writer

ATHOL — When the head honcho of Idaho public education walked into Athol Elementary School Friday, the kids weren’t shy about informing her she lacked a visitor’s badge.

Sherri Ybarra, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, visited the school to check in, support local teachers and see the school’s environment.

When students found out she was a superintendent, they immediately started asking for three-day weekends and more snow days. But mostly, the students were excited to share the projects on which they were working.

“I tried to come here two other times but never made it,” Ybarra told The Press during a tour of the school. “I wanted to show my support and stop by. Before, I think there was a lot of finger-pointing and people were focused on bad things and not highlighting the good things happening in schools.

“It’s good for me to stay in touch and to see the good work in action.”

Ybarra thanked each teacher she met for their service. She shook hands with or high-fived many kids along the way.

Athol Elementary Principal Kathy Thomas and Lakeland School District Assistant Superintendent Lisa Sexton showed Ybarra into a few classrooms and discussed an array of topics: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics grants, all-day kindergarten, writing curriculum and testing standards.

Thomas said it meant a great deal to her that Ybarra got to see the school and all the people in it.

“It was great being able to get her into the classrooms,” Thomas said. “For her to see what we’re doing with safety — when kids pointed out she didn’t have a badge — it gave her a chance to see at the ground level the great work we’re doing and the challenges we have.”

She also wanted Ybarra to see how the school works with limited resources in a rural setting, and the opportunities it’s able to provide for its students.

Ybarra’s visit came a day after a bill to pilot a resource network for the state’s rural schools was passed out of the Idaho Legislature’s House Education Committee. The measure, which Ybarra supports, still needs to clear the full House and Senate. The legislation would provide funding for the pilot program that would allow rural school districts to share specialized personnel like speech-language pathologists and nurses.