On Thursday, August 28th, I responded to an opportunity to go and see the Vice President of the United States when he was visiting a small industry in La Crosse. I went for patriotic reasons; things like “love of country”, respect for our elected leaders, “Making America Great Again”, and a desire to get a first-hand perspective direct from the Vice President rather than filtered and distorted by not only the media but by many public servants proclaiming to be leaders.

To put this into a limited and personal perspective, my High School U.S. History course was “Documentary History” meaning we just didn’t read about the Federalist Papers, we read some of the Federalist papers! We read documents from the time being studied to include newspaper articles and personal papers along with the better known historical documents. I remember reading of the successes and failures of President Abraham Lincoln and the day the teacher came into the classroom and said “Abraham Lincoln was a good guy. You have 45 minutes to agree or disagree –and give references.”

Add to that experience, the opportunity to meet with the former Vice President and then Presidential Candidate Richard M. Nixon on three occasions while he was campaigning in New Hampshire. Once it was with three or four other college students for almost three hours of candid discussion! I served in the US Army for 21 years and have travelled in South America and lived in Europe.

But, I digress from the story of Vice President Vance visiting La Crosse. It was truly a remarkable time. The venue was one of the large manufacturing buildings of Mid-City Steel, LLC. The “warm-up” speaker was Secretary of the Interior and former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. The volunteers directing visitors to the parking area and entrance to the facility and the law enforcement personnel – both local La Crosse and the Secret Service – were all kind, courteous, polite, and professional. All involved in making this event happen need to be thanked!

But what really stood out for me was the couple of dozen high school seniors from Luther High School. They stood out because they were quiet, curious, appropriately dressed, and well behaved. They stood out because they were there! Secretary Burgum publicly recognized them as did Vice President Vance. One of the speakers even asked them to stand and be recognized!

What they learned “at school” on Thursday was a lesson in civics from a Cabinet Secretary and the Vice President. They learned a lesson in economics when listening about the “Big Beautiful Bill” and personal taxes. They learned a little about manufacturing as they sat in that production area and listened about tax credits for production enhancing investments. They learned about their Congressman, Derrick Van Orden, first when he received a thunderous ovation when he was recognized before the event officially began and again when both the Secretary and the Vice President recognized the Congressman’s excellence.

Towards the end of the Vice President’s remarks a teacher took three of the students and exited the area. I have to assume this was for press interviews, or maybe even to personally meet the Vice President when he exited the facility. I can guarantee you it was something honorable – certainly not a discipline issue. (I should apologize for even thinking that thought.) I have since been told that at least one of the students was interviewed and another shared with an inquisitive adult that they really appreciated hearing the real story about the “Big, Beautiful Bill”!

What an education! But, where were the public school students?

I did a little on-line searching, and Luther High School provides an education that encourages and equips students for life. The school motto appears to be “Always Prepared”. Digging deeper, 95% of their graduates go on to higher education and their average ACT Score is 24.9 (compared to a Wisconsin average of 20.5). Their website references 1 Peter 3:15 – look it up for a better picture of Luther High School!

Yes, Luther is a “church school” as opposed to a “public school”. But maybe some public school influencers including the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, legislators on education committees, parents, and especially local school board members need to reassess what a real education looks like. It probably starts with good behavior followed by some civics and economics all rolled into interesting real-world experiences!