By Craig King, former principal
Evart Elementary School, Evart, Michigan

I've been in education and working with children for over eighteen years and the Responsible Thinking Process is the best thing in education since lead in the pencil and ink in the pen.

For the past three years I have had the luxury of being trained by Ed Ford, Tom Bourbon, George Venetis and mentored right here in Evart, Michigan by Scott Bogner and Al Kullman. Thanks to these individuals I am proud to announce that Evart Elementary School is accredited in the Responsible Thinking Process (RTP).

Hats off to Ed Ford and George Venetis for developing the RTP Evaluation Handbook.

For two years prior to accreditation, I had been questioning myself whether we at Evart Elementary School were utilizing RTP correctly? We had dedicated so much of our time and energy to RTP, and yet we questioned whether we were ready to be accredited.

Then, along came the RTP Evaluation Handbook, which was like a roadmap to our destination. After applying the material in the handbook, I knew Evart Elementary would be accredited. Simply put, I knew before Ed and George came to Evart, we had accomplished our mission. Everything in the RTP Evaluation Handbook and more was completed.

In utilizing the handbook a simple eleven-stage rubric is supplied for administrators, teachers and support staff to analyze their position in the Responsible Thinking Process. With the help of an outstanding RTC Administrator, Robin Harbaugh, and her dedication to keeping the integrity of RTP, especially her excellence in data collection, made it very easy to follow the handbook to completion.

Thus, it made it extremely easy for an administrator to gage where a school is at in utilizing RTP. Once an administrator measures the school's location in RTP, they set a course to travel and with persistence and dedication, the school's goals will be within reach. Thanks again to Ed and George for keeping the RTP vision alive.