Montana's a good place to start over

It should come as no surprise that Libby residents were among the first Montanans to welcome Hurricane Katrina evacuees into their homes. This is a community that knows firsthand about hardship and has buried hundreds of loved ones who have succumbed to asbestos disease left in the wake of decades of vermiculite mining there.

In our experience, Libby folks are sturdy, compassionate people, quick to put their own troubles aside to help those in need.

The Oelberg and Micklon families, who have taken in homeless New Orleans residents, said the response from area residents has been overwhelming and heartwarming. These evacuees have a difficult transition ahead of them - new surroundings, new faces, new climate. They'll need the sustained love and support of their newfound friends and neighbors in the months to come. We wish them all the best.

Welcome to Montana.

The good works of our community are not just to benefit those from afar.

Brandon Nielsen of Evergreen got a touch of the lovingkindness of friends and family Saturday when he returned home from a vacation to find his house had gotten a "makeover" to benefit him and his two young children, Eli and Ella.

The family had received a staggering blow in April when the children's mother, Becky, died in a car crash. To take some of the burden off the young father, Becky's parents - County Commissioner Gary Hall and his wife, Jayne - came up with the idea of the surprise.

In just a week - with a lot of help from church members and neighbors - Nielsen's home got new paint, new fixtures, new furniture and an outside play area. It was enough to make the stoic Nielsen cry, and we bet he wasn't alone.

Bureaucratic jargon is alive and well, as evidenced by the new grading descriptions that will confront parents and students in School District 5.

The existing report-card system (for kindergarten through second grade) of "satisfactory" ratings and pluses or minuses will be replaced by marks for "advanced," "proficient," "nearing proficient" and "novice."

This is a change we're sure has been long sought by parents befuddled by the bewitching simplicity of previous report cards.

What a warm, touching moment it's going to be when a parent can hug a child and exclaim proudly, "Congratulations, Johnny, you're nearly proficient in reading!"

These changes are just the latest in the never-ending fallout from No Child Left Behind, which brought us such gems as "annual yearly progress," "disaggregated data" and "differentiated teaching."

We're sure fewer children will be left behind once they figure out whether they're novices or proficient.