Karla's Kolumn

School started this week in Worland so I came up with some Do’s and Don’ts for this school year.

Do drive slow around schools now that school has started or will be starting next week for surrounding communities. Don’t just think if the 20 mph yellow light isn’t flashing it’s OK to zoom by the schools. In the words of my mother (when my father was teaching me to drive) “It’s OK to not go as fast as the speed limit allows,” especially around school zones.

Do use your turn signal … before you start turning. It seems our society likes to turn the signal on as they are making a turn. The point of the signal is to let other drivers know you are about to turn.

Do be aware of students biking and walking to school even when there are no crosswalks or you aren’t near a school zone.

For our student athletes, Do be like Usain Bolt, who trains hard, is rewarded with gold medals but still has loads of fun and enjoys what he is doing.

Don’t be a Ryan Lochte who went from hero to heel in one short news cycle. If you have success or your season is over, celebrate smart and safe. Don’t destroy someone else’s property.

Do be like Ashton Eaton and his fellow Olympic decathlon competitors who all congratulated each other at the end of two days and 10 events. They understood what each other went through, the hard work they all put in and they all celebrated Eaton’s success, a show of true sportsmanship.

Do be an Abbey D’Agostino, the 5,000-meter runner who, after being involved in a chainreaction wreck Tuesday with New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin, did not scramble up to keep running, did not get mad that something beyond her control took her out of the race, but instead D’Agostino went to Hamblin, helped her up and urged the New Zealander to keep running. Another sign of true sportsmanship; something not just our athletes, but society as a whole can learn from … that no matter the lot given you in life, you can always lend a helping hand to someone else.

Do go to class and study but have some fun as well and become involved in some type of activity.

Don’t be like Lebron James who is wishing he had agreed to be part of another Olympic basketball team. Don’t live with regret, but instead if you have an opportunity to do something you’ve wanted to do, even if it may be scary or be a big change, take the risk.

And finally, Do admit when you’re wrong, just as I’m doing here. Tuesday I mentioned to someone that Liz Cheney was born and raised in Virginia. Someone near me said I was wrong so I did my research. I was wrong. She was not born in Virginia but rather Wisconsin. My research further showed she graduated in 1984 from a private high school in McClean, Va.