Staff writer Erin Grace is today's guest columnist. Tell us what you think by leaving a comment at the end of this column or emailing dave.kotok@owh.com.

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We could make a strong case for ending a school calendar that is outdated, agrarian-based and gives students and teachers too much time apart each summer.

We could talk about the poor performance of U.S. children compared with their counterparts elsewhere. Or the indisputable summer slide, which hits disadvantaged students hardest.

Or ... woanh-wah, woanh-wah, woanh-wah, to paraphrase Charlie Brown's teacher.

Today, let's make a different case as schools open to a stampede of new shoes, as lockers wave and clang, as stiff, new notebooks get pulled out of stiff, stuffed backpacks.

I want to argue for summer.

I know the timing is strange. Both the lovely temperature drop and return to school seem to close the door on that season.

But I don't think better proof exists of the redemptive qualities of summer break than the first day of school.