DADvocate

Occasionally I've mentioned my kids' school system, Mason County Schools in Kentucky. Mason County Schools perform well in many ways - academics, sports, music and other areas.

When I first moved to Mason County in 1990, this was not so. I no intention of allowing my son, and children to come, to attend Mason County Schools but rather the local parochial school. But things have changed.

Associate Superintendents Kelly Middleton and Elizabeth Petitt have written a book detailing their approach to improve their schools. The most interesting part of their approach is that they didn't look to the educational world for ideas but to the corporate world.

The concept for the book came from Middleton and Petitt's brainstorming of best customer service practices which could be implemented within the Mason County School District.

They evaluated some of the practices of companies known best for their customer service, interviewed professionals with those businesses, then determined how those practices could be implemented within the public school system.

The Mason County School District has made strides towards improving customer service based on those practices.

Sometimes just caring and showing it makes a big difference. I've never met Elizabeth Pettit. But Kelly Middleton and Superintendent Tim Moore are Mason County natives who left and eventually returned to raise the level of their old schools. I believe it is a matter of personal and community pride for them.

School systems are one of those governmental entities in which it is all too easy to coast and to you job well enough to just get by. I applaud the leaders of the Mason County school system for their efforts. Hopefully other school systems will find inspiration from the book.