Editorial: Vesta Losen retires after finishing her local education goal

We remember, more than 20 years ago, when Vesta Losen and Tom Bowles were elected to the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education with the goal of improving the education and the operation of the district. They failed. The district leaders and unions rebuffed them at every turn. We remember the fiery meetings that lasted past midnight.
Once their four-year terms were up, Losen and Bowles turned to forming a new school to offer local children the education they deserved to have. Losen, who was running Bethany Daycare, wanted her students to have some place to go to learn. She had lots of helpers.
That’s how Keystone Academy was formed, starting 22 years ago and celebrating its 20th year in operation last summer. Bethany Daycare will be celebrating its 50th year this summer.
Bowles moved to the Upper Peninsula years ago, but Losen was on the Keystone school board from the beginning, as president much of the time, and now she is retiring to follow other projects.
Keystone has been a place to send the children, outdoing the other local districts in test scores for 17 years. This year, for the second year in a row, Keystone was recognized as a Michigan Reward School by the State of Michigan with “A” grades in all three categories counted.
Losen knows it’s safe to move on to other challenges and so we all wish her continued successes.