For many of us, remembering something we did last week is difficult.

Remembering what our lives were like and where our heads were when we were in the eighth grade, well, that’s just downright impossible.

Too many years have passed for those memories and feelings to be fresh for most of us.

In that gulf between adolescence and adulthood, it’s quite likely that many of you had a few mentors along the way.

Maybe that helping hand came in the form of a loving parent, who took time out to explain to your growing mind that actions and inactions have consequences.

Such lessons help prepare one for the realities of adulthood and the work world, too.

Or perhaps it was a grandparent or church pastor who helped you see the future a little more clearly.

Regardless, for most of you back in middle school and beyond, someone instilled in you a purpose for learning and working hard.

Sadly, for many of our middle school students, it seems that guiding hand isn’t as evident. Maybe the parents have to work two jobs to make ends meet or perhaps divorce has forced one parent into having to fill two roles in the child’s life.

The result, unfortunately, is that we’re losing more and more students in that critical middle school age.

The CHOICES program aims to fill that void, even if only a bit. By pairing up volunteers from the business community with eighth-grade classes, the program aims to send a real-life based message to students on the importance of education. For more information on how to volunteer with the program, call 318-336-3635.

The hope is that maybe, just maybe the message that staying in school will reap more rewards than an eighth-grade mind can comprehend, might hit home.