Cooperative attitudes help in changing times

Growth brings change.

When children grow, they need new clothes. Their pastimes change. Their needs and wants change. Yet, growth is forward, it is expected, it is lauded. Parents applaud each new progression of their child -- when he learns to walk, to talk, to feed himself. Birthdays, graduations, weddings are all ceremoniously feted as signs of growth.

A chrysalis bursts when the butterfly inside has grown to maturity.

The city of Pea Ridge is growing.

Pea Ridge schools are growing.

The needs for both the city and the school are changing. Whereas there was one school campus for many decades, there are now four with more land acquired by the school and more buildings to come in the future. Not too long ago, all the city offices were in one place downtown, but as each city department has grown, more offices were needed and personnel hired.

The school population is nearing what the city's population was at the turn of the last century. At a combined School Board/City Council meeting Monday night, assistant school superintendent Keith Martin said the current student population is 1,985 and with the current growth trends, could easily be 2,075 next year. The city's population in 2000 was 2,346. From 2000 to 2010, that number doubled. Another 6.7 percent growth has the 2014 estimated census at 5,117.

Both entities have joined hands in building a new office building and court room in a unique and historic venture. To our knowledge, there is not another joint city and school building in the state.

When faced with something new, all too often people say: "We've never done it that way before."

Or, to maintain their own comfort levels, they say: "We've always done it this way."

At the groundbreaking Tuesday morning, an 80-plus-year-old native remarked on the changes he'd seen and told how it used to be in Pea Ridge. The current downtown was all there was and all of the new subdivisions and businesses are on land that was "out of town" and mostly farm land.

The School District covers 52 square miles -- far beyond the city limits. The city limits cover 7.4 square miles.

We applaud school and city officials for their foresight, their vision in not only meeting the needs of the residents, but conversing with business, community and governmental leaders in vision meetings over the past several months to identify, assess and quantify the current and future needs of Pea Ridge.

There have been many firsts in "little ole Pea Ridge" in the past few years including (but not limited to) Bright Futures, Pea Ridge Manufacturing and Business Academy (a charter conversion school), ALE (an alternative learning school). New businesses have opened here. New homes have been built.

And, through it all, Pea Ridge maintains its small-town charm where everybody knows everybody (or at least seems to), people still offer a helping hand to their neighbor, and people wave and smile at one another when passing on the street.

As we grow, let's remember from whence we came and keep being neighborly.