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The tests scores are in. Results of the New Hampshire Educational Improvement and Assessment Program, or NHEIAP, administered last year to 10th-graders in our schools, show students making what appears to be some small progress in some subjects at some schools.

Officials pretty much say the same thing every year. They're pleased with their progress or they see they have work to do. Oh, and it's not relevant to compare this year's scores to past years or their school to other schools in the state.

So what is relevant? These tests supposedly help districts see where the curriculum needs shoring up, so they can adjust accordingly. Yes, there must be an accounting to prove students are learning and teachers are teaching. These kinds of measurements are par for the course for any public institution.

We have no problem with testing. What we do have a problem with are unfunded federal mandates that force schools to perform at some artificially set level to retain federal funds.

The No Child Left Behind Act has become the bane of school officials and teachers everywhere. Threatening a school with the loss of funds if students don't make or exceed the nebulous standards set by some disembodied government agency is a bad idea bordering on ridiculous.

We're not soldering Jeeps on an assembly line here, we're teaching human beings, with all the stops and starts, progress and falling back, different rates and variations on a theme that encompass human learning.

To hold money in front of a school district like a carrot on a stick, forcing it to teach to a test just to be able to keep going financially is doing students a great disservice.

And to demand it without giving schools the means with which to accomplish it is unconscionable.

No one wins under this kind of control. All it does is foster mediocrity in the name of progress, without considering the real meaning of success in education.

It's time to drop the No Child Left Behind program, and work on getting our schools adequately funded, our teachers adequately compensated, and our children adequately educated for their future, not for a standardized test.
– Editorials published by Neighborhood News Inc. are written by an editorial board. The board is composed of Publisher and President Amy J. Vellucci, Executive Editor Ginger Kozlowski and Managing Editor Christine Heiser.

It had reportedly been housed in the Wells-York Beach, Maine, area and, indeed, was for some time.

It meant so much to me since my family - father, brother and cousins - had reported to more fires than can be counted.

Your Armand Verville of Allenstown depot and former longtime police and fireman of Allenstown was also intrigued by having located this gem of an antique.

I had contacted members of the Old Home Day Committee to advise them and now have to apologize to them since a Bruce Weeks of Westport, Maine, advised that his family had sold the engine to a group from Texas some years ago.

Hoping some Suncook resident would have a photo to share would be appreciated. Paul M. Gamache

The first strategy was changing our town charter so they could all remain in power. Now they have voted to change the method of delineating the districts.

Welcome to Hooksett, where the "trustees" change the rules, deceptively reword articles until they pass, revote the articles when they fail and disregard the votes when they lose. Instead of a government of, by and for the people, it's of the rich, by the businesses and for the developers.

Current residents are being forced to pay for the new and future residents. This is an old pattern. As the higher-priced homes are built, the existing homes are valued and taxed at higher rates until you end up with the rich and the poor only. As with the illegal immigrant problem, the middle class bears the cost, the rich reap the benefits and the poor increase in number because some used to be middle class until overwhelmed.

It is now an unavoidable reality that "private property" no longer exists in America. We actually own nothing, we rent it. Taxes are taken from our pay before we get it, added to our purchases and levied against our possessions.

If you don't pay, they take it all away and send you to prison. Go figure, our forefathers started a war over a few pennies tax, but now we bend over so often we may soon look like apes, dragging our fingers.

My platform is to fight against this destructive trend. I think the current citizens are more important than the wannabes. The "trustees" are supposed to obey and protect their constituents, not plan our futures (destruction?) for the benefit of outsiders and developers. I'm tired of being ignored and abused, aren't you?

If you want to know how I will vote, read the Bible. Whether you believe or not, you can use it as a guide. You can also simply ask me and I will answer without delay. The truth never needs time.

The club sincerely appreciates all that area residents and businesses do to make the club's events so successful.

Recently, local businesses allowed the club to leave donation cans at their locations to assist an Epsom family that is going through a rough spell due to a work-related injury. Many members of the community also contributed directly to the club or family. Through these efforts, the Lions were able to take a check for $2,250 to the very grateful Durack family.

The Lions club would also like to thank all who attended the breakfast they hosted as part of Epsom Old Home Days. The club was able to contribute $500 to the Epsom library fund as a result of the breakfast's success.

Lion Joanne Locke would like to thank all who participated in the baked bean bake-off at the Epsom Old Home Day event and helped make it a great success for the second year.

Winners of the bake-off were Kay Killiam of Epsom, winner of "People's Choice and Traditional" category; Donna Filion of Pittsfield, runner-up of "Traditional" category; Alexandra Topham of Epsom, winner of "From Afar" category; and Richard Fifield of Epsom, runner-up of "From Afar" category.

The club is always open to new members, so why not check out what the Lions are all about? We have a lot of fun in serving the community and its needs.

This year I worked on the Old Home Day Committee in Fund Development and at the booth for two hours on Saturday. Now I have seen it from the inside so to speak.

Wow! The amount of work and dedication in this group of people is immeasurable. These people take time off from work, work late into the night, spend the entire weekend at Memorial Field painting, setting up, cleaning, watching, running raffles, (did I say cleaning?) and the like.

They coordinate the parade from the route to the participants to the order of it and who goes where.

My hat is off to the Pembroke and Allenstown Old Home Day Committee for another year of a job well done and thank you for letting me be a part of it.

Our hope is to expand book selections within the classroom that will include a variety of subject matters (fiction, nonfiction, biographies, poetry, etc.) at a variety of reading levels at no cost.

We are in need of books at reading levels up to fourth grade that may include novels, mysteries, chapter books, encyclopedias, atlases and children's magazines.

The Hooksett Public Library has agreed to be the drop-off location for your donations. Please mark your donations "Underhill School Classroom Libraries."

We will be organizing collections throughout the year to donate to classrooms at Underhill.

We believe that our young readers will be excited about all the reading materials made available to them with your help!

In the mid-19th century, labor conditions were extremely poor for most workers, especially those employed in the industrial market. During this time, immigrants were flooding into the United States at a massive rate. Housing was limited and expensive. Many times, several families had to crowd into one small apartment. Most families were forced to depend on their children for additional income. The Industrial Revolution had brought about the mass formation of factories throughout the Northeastern portion of the United States. These factories required the employment of many workers, making factory work one of the most common jobs in the era. Factories were also willing to employ women and children, people who would have a difficult time finding steady employment anywhere else. Factory conditions were very harsh. Most workers were required to be at the job for 12 hours per day, six days out of the week. They were allowed only a small break for lunch. The work was intensely tiring and uncomfortable.

One may think that if the work was so terrible, then why did they stay? With so many immigrants in desperate need of a job, it was difficult to find work. If a person complained, they could be fired and replaced easily. People began to realize that if they wanted working conditions to change, they would have to work together. By the 1870s, workers were rallying together and forming labor unions. Thousands of workers would go on strike at one time, and would proceed to march through the streets demanding better pay and shorter working hours. As time passed, organized labor movements became more and more popular, spreading throughout the industrialized cities of the United States.

Labor organization leaders began to plan a holiday that would land on the first Monday in September. This would give workers a holiday between Independence Day and Thanksgiving. On Sept. 5, 1882, Labor Day was first celebrated with a giant parade held in New York City. Twenty thousand workers marched in the parade, carrying signs and banners that displayed the ideas for better working conditions. After the march, everyone celebrated with picnics throughout the city and then when night fell, a grand display of fireworks was the finale of the first Labor Day. Over the years, the idea of Labor Day spread throughout the United States and became more popular. It was voted to become a federal holiday in 1894, and it has been nationally celebrated ever since.

As this last century ended, unionism with its long and hard-won history in the fight for acceptable working conditions, pay and benefits, was on the decline. A thriving U.S. economy which believes that big business and capital power are the surest advisors in the running of the country, has largely bypassed the massed force of the once-powerful unions. Might it not be suitable for us to pause today to think how far the old union activities have brought us in improving the life of the common man? Labor Day may not have the same meaning that it did when it was created, but we can still look back and remember the courageous and spirited people who fought for the rights of the working men and women of the United States of America.

I'm convinced that laughter heals much of what goes wrong with us. I've been a comedian since I was 5 years old, so I've seen a lot of healing.

That's why I've spent the last 10 years doing laughter and healing seminars at medical centers across the country.

A few years ago, my doctors told me I had a serious disease that could take my life. I could hardly breathe from this disease that was destroying my lungs. But I kept laughing.

I laughed even when I was on a drug that made me look like a blimp, even when I didn't know whether I would wake up the next morning. And I kept other people laughing.

I'm much better now, and I'm still laughing - especially at the doctors who told me I might not live this long.

Laughter is healing because it makes you feel better. No one knows that better than the kids and adults we help at the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

I know a guy with ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease - who carries a page of jokes with him wherever he goes. He can't walk or talk but he can communicate and smile!

Children with neuromuscular diseases who spend a week at an MDA summer camp laugh almost around the clock.

People zipping around in their first power wheelchairs, obtained with help from MDA, can't stop grinning over the new freedom those chairs represent.

I wish laughter could heal people completely, but it can't. "My kids" need doctors to give them the right medicines and therapies. We need the MDAfunded scientists who are figuring out the mysteries that cause neuromuscular diseases and are very close to being able to stop them.

And, when I see a child's strength ebbing away or a young parent's life ending too soon, I need to cry.

But, on our telethon, we quickly get back to the laughter and let it lighten our worries. Our show is loaded with comedians, singers, dancers, favorite personalities and other great entertainers to delight you.

One of these days - and it won't be that long - muscular dystrophy will fall victim to hope and determination. We'll have the last laugh, and it will be the best one ever.

So, whatever your plans are for Labor Day weekend, if they don't include the Telethon, cancel 'em. Get back on that couch. You'll learn, you'll think, you'll be amazed. You'll laugh - and you'll feel better.