OUR VIEW: Don’t forget the good news at our schools

School news has been dominated recently by a string of bomb threats - Thursday's at the high school being the fourth in the area over the past two weeks. But there is also a lot of good news coming out of the public school system that we would be remiss not to highlight.

TEACHER OF THE YEAR: On Thursday evening, Culpeper Middle School science teacher Martha Menton was named Culpeper County teacher of the year.
Menton was one of eight educators recognized by the school system this year - one from each of the county's public schools. The others were: Maria Frank (A.G. Richardson), Crystal Hitt (Farmington), Tammy Hoffman (Sycamore Park), Michele Houser (Pearl Sample), J. Watt Hypes (Floyd T. Binns), Kristie Johnson (CCHS) and Ellen Jones (Emerald Hill).
Congratulations to all of the honorees for their outstanding achievement. Common to all of them is a joy in seeing children discover new things and a creative approach to the task of teaching. They are models of what a good teacher should be, and their recognition is well deserved.

'HEARTS OUT TO HOKIES': Psychology students at Culpeper County High School, in collaboration with their teacher, Carol McNamara, are responding to the tragedy at Virginia Tech with a word of hope.
For 33 days, they will bear the message "Hearts Out to Hokies" on their cars, ending on May 26 with a symbolic drive through town. They have also established a remembrance scholarship, which will be awarded to one senior at convocation.
It is always great to see young people doing positive things in the community and downright inspiring to see them respond to life's unexplainable tragedies with strength and hope.