This is the last week of freedom for Goochland’s school children.

After these final hours of summer, when kids can roll out of bed unhurried into days unorchestrated by lines and rules, it is back to the ol’ grind.

But is that grind as soul-crushing as our children might have us believe?

I remember being a kid around this time of year, and complaining loudly to my parents, my friends, pretty much to anyone who would listen, that I couldn’t believe my vacation was over.

“Where did all the time go??” I lamented, mourning the excitement I had felt a few months earlier, when I still had all those summer days stretching lazily ahead.

Suddenly my bliss was shattered by newspaper inserts and television commercials that blared out a relentless reminder: Hey, it’s back-to-school time!

But even as I rambled on about not needing the waste of time that was returning to Matthew C. Perry Elementary School, I was getting pretty excited about picking out a stack of notebooks,  a new lunchbox and a backpack.

Somewhere within me was an understanding that, although spending my days achieving nothing loftier than honing my roller skating, Monopoly and solitaire skills was a pretty seductive lifestyle, I was kind of missing the structure of academia.

I do believe kids, and people in general, can learn anywhere, as long as they have an inquisitive mind.

And to repeat something I often say at this time of year, at Loyola University in New Orleans, the Jesuits taught me that understanding our world is a quest, involving a search for truth, social justice and a belief in the importance of asking, “Yeah, but… why?”

And over the past year the people who make their livings and their lives in Goochland have been asking questions, and have also been asking to gain a greater say in how those questions are answered.

Last week I interviewed Goochland County Administrator, Rebecca Dickson. I mentioned that I have heard many citizens say they want to further engage with the county’s government and schools, but that they don’t always feel that they are being heard or heeded.

Dickson said that she hopes that people will let her know how the county can best address this issue.

She raises a good point: Wanting a greater dialogue between the local government and the people it serves is a good goal for the citizenry, but it is not good in and of itself; there have to be some clear suggestions and strategies to make it happen.

The past few months have been nice and slow in Goochland—board meetings were rather uneventful and there were no major conflicts or uprisings.

But summer is now winding into fall, and just as I did as a kid, I find myself getting adrenalized at the prospect of a more focused agenda.

That is coming up quickly, as several of the issues discussed by the Board of Supervisors at the economic planning session in July will be brought up again at the September 7 meeting, and the school board has said it will start soliciting input on a strategic plan of its own.

And then it is only a brief time before election season revs things into a higher gear.

Dickson also said last week that she hopes that the county moves forward in a more proactive, and less reactionary, fashion.

Here is another quote that is well-suited for the back-to-school season:

“I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant,” said Henry Louis Mencken, a newsman and social critic who influenced many people, many years ago.

Those ideals are not easy to achieve; it takes dedication and perseverance to stick to your ideals and take the hard way out.

But Dickson raises a solid point: Idealism doesn’t have to be mean-spirited; sometimes it can be an exciting challenge, met with cooperation and a shared mission, that effects real change.

And such an effort can be a lot more satisfying than one more afternoon spent aimlessly sipping lemonade and dealing out another round of solitaire.