Success can be found in local classes

There has been exactly five seconds in the last decade in which budget constraints have not been an issue for the schools, but once you get behind the squabbling about teacher negotiations, union bickering and financial rhetoric from the Murky gov's office, you'll find students in the Mat-Su Valley who are doing some extraordinary things.

In the schools, students are doing remarkably well. Check out the story beside this column for just another example of students doing well. It was a hard story to write, about three elementary school students who managed a 14-percent return on their investment in the last 10 weeks.

It was hard to write because it comes on the heels of receiving my 401(k) portfolio report, and seeing the financial wizards who are managing my retirement have done exactly opposite as these three girls have.

Of course, there is more to investments and the stock market than a 10-week unit in fifth-grade, but the idea may have been planted in one of these students' heads to become a banker, and investor or a financial advisor.

There are students who won a state Science Olympiad title and competed nationally, there are students doing watershed projects to help the city of Wasilla,

Even when you get beyond the local schools, students from the Valley are doing well. Bob MacFarlane is a perfect example -- he was recently awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious scholarships available to university students. And he came through the school system right here.

Recently, I had the opportunity (after six years in a row, I guess it's more like an obligation) to take part in Wasilla Middle School's career unit. As a prospective employer, I interviewed students who wanted to be journalists, photographers and writers.

I walked away worried about my own job because some of these kids, while only eighth-graders, are well on their way to polished careers. It won't be too much longer until I -- and us all -- will be competing with them in the job market, and we better be ready, because some of these kids are good.

Not everything going on with the school system is about unions fighting and budget cuts.

Those kinds of discussions and issues are certainly going to be reported extensively, but just as important as that kind of news are the stories of young chess champions, of high school students organizing minority bone marrow drives, of kids helping each other out.

Take a moment to look at what your kids, and the kids around them, are doing in school, and you'll likely find that teachers are doing a great job preparing them for higher learning, careers and life in general.

It's unfortunate that sometimes, the political end of education gets more focus than the primary component -- the students.

A few months ago, I read somewhere that bad news always finds its way to the front page of a newspaper, while good news doesn't make an editor's phone ring. I hope that's not completely true.

I hope that we can bring readers stories of students doing well and enjoying success, regardless of the economic or political atmosphere around them. The reason is simple -- they deserve it.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Frontiersman's Valley Life editor.