Saluting our educators and students

It seems like just yesterday we were extolling the virtues of

local high school graduates and all their accomplishments and bidding

farewell to yet another school year.

But here it is September and back to the classroom we go.

Or at least, back to the classroom go thousands of combined

students from Newport-Mesa Unified, Sage Hill and a host of other

private schools, Orange Coast College, Vanguard University and UC

Irvine.

Reflecting back, we are reminded that while last school year was

filled with many triumphs, it also brought its share of troubles and

even tragedies.

Both Costa Mesa High and OCC started off the year with the death

of two athletes. At Newport Harbor, there were controversies over

Confederate flags and cheerleaders. At OCC, a professor created

controversy in his classroom demeanor and, at UCI, fires broke out in

the science building.

While those lowlights garnered much publicity, we don’t believe

that can ever take away or diminish from the hundreds of awards and

citations that both teachers and students and student-athletes

achieved last school year alone.

So, we’d really like to take this time to reflect on those

triumphs and hope for more of the same this year. So we propose a few

toasts:

To the students who pay attention and study, graduate with honors,

take part in sports and make the best of their educational

experience, we salute you.

To the parents who pack those lunches, help with the homework and

provide the moral support and guidance, we salute you.

To the teachers who work day in and day out to improve their

students, make them better citizens and teach them valuable lessons,

we salute you.

To the administrators who keep up with the latest in curriculum

and educational trends and push for improvements in SAT scores, we

salute you.

To the school board members, for taking precious time out of your

personal lives to provide leadership to our youth, we salute you.

To them all, we wish the best for the 2002-03 school year and hope

that it is filled with more triumphs than ever before.