"If communities come together to support their kids, anything is possible."

I was standing at the bus stop with a group of foster kids, when the conversation turned from who they were going to sit with at lunch to how upset they were that the school district they're now attending doesn't offer foreign language classes until high school.

It was an eighth grader in the group who quickly became the most vocal. "You see," she said. "I think we're giving too much credit to the school boards here. They don't really have ALL the power to make decisions. Because in my old school district? We had language classes in elementary school. And the reason we did is because the parents and community fought for them. When the classes were going to be cut, I remember the parents all marching down to the school board meetings."

Soon, she had the attention of the entire group.

"Our schools were good because the community cared so much about our education. If communities come together to support their kids, anything is possible."

The wisdom of an eighth-grade foster kid, with a family history that would bring you to tears, decked out in her new hot pink high-tops and zebra-print tshirt, spoken at the morning bus stop.

So at the most unlikely time, from a rather unlikely source, I was again reminded how important it is to listen to your young people. And value them. And come together as communities to support them. Always.