The 4-H component ties back into the social skills. The children will be learning sharing, courtesy, respect, cooperation.

Mutual respect and courtesy is one of the things that holds this vague organization together and that is in short supply.

You can demand courtesy but you have to earn respect.

The distance-learning program will revolutionize the way we teach our children in Alabama forever. Just think about it: A kid in rural Clay County or Wilcox County will have the opportunity to take advanced physics, calculus, or even Chinese.

I've been here for five years and I think there's more cooperation in our region than there's ever been. We have a regional economic development consortium. It has allowed for regular communication and shared ideas to develop between our counties.

They not only teach children about responsibility, compassion and caring, they have been used in a host of learning applications in math and writing.