Being a young person in today’s world, my peers and I find ourselves sometimes discouraged about the stereotype we all too often fall.

It seems too frequently you hear on the news of some juvenile committing a crime or doing wrong. It seems people notice young kids speeding on the streets and not the ones picking up trash on sidewalks when they see it. This being said, something very positive happened recently that was very refreshing and I would like everyone to be informed.

Every spring many schools across the nation are subjected to rigorous assessments in order for the state to judge whether or not we are learning the criteria that needs to be taught. For a week students are focused in front of computer screens with their thinking caps securely fastened. I myself have done this every year and, personally, I appreciate the hype of teachers while encouraging us. People sometimes forget behind every brilliant human being were good teachers, and the same goes for all the schools that do exceptionally well on these state assessments.

Therefore, next time you run into an educator who is employed in USD 398, stop and tell them “good job” because Peabody-Burns had a tremendous amount of kids who received a standard of excellence on the assessments for the 2007-08 school year.

Seventy students, grades three through 12 who received standard of excellence, were recognized Dec. 9 by the board of education with an awards ceremony at the high school with the fourth grade reading and science, fifth grade math, and 10th grade as a whole. The entire elementary school also received standard of excellence in math.

I also would like to note the fact that it is much appreciated by the kids that the board and staff do such a tremendous job going out of their way to congratulate and acknowledge the kids’ efforts who did well. This story of such high achievement in our community makes me swollen with pride I hope it has done the same for you.

— Paige Barnes