Natchez-Adams Schools teachers and administrators are pulling out all the stops this year to make sure students perform well on standardized tests.

Each school is zeroing in on just what skills &045; or behaviors &045; need to be improved so that the test scores will go up &045; and, hopefully, school performance will improve.

At the primary schools, teachers are making sure students learn skills hands-on, giving them the edge they need to move on to elementary school, where they take standardized tests for the first time.

At the elementary schools, unique challenges like racing cars for reading books give children the incentive to learn.

At Robert Lewis Middle School and Natchez High, it’s overcoming behavior problems and apathy that are key before students can learn.

But the job shouldn’t just be on teachers and students’ shoulders.

Parents, especially, and community members can pitch in to help.

How can parents help? In a variety of ways, from simply making sure students arrive to school on time and ready to learn to volunteering as tutors and making sure students stay after school for remedial lessons if necessary.

Community members can lend a hand by volunteering as tutors or mentors, and businesses can help by becoming Partners in Education. Partners can help by donating supplies or by helping in the classroom.

Our public school system needs broad community support because our community needs our public schools to succeed.

And all of us can lend a hand.