High schools in Newberg and St. Paul send hundreds of bright young minds into the world

Graduation season is over and although we’ll spare readers platitudes about sending grads out into the “real world” we think the accomplishment still warrants a hearty huzzah!

Kindergarten through 12th-grade education has become an increasingly complex affair. Gone are the days when the majority of the kids showed up for school having been properly prepared by their parents. These days, many kids are strangers to the alphabet and haven’t even had a decent breakfast when they walk through elementary school doors, so the fact that hundreds graduate from Newberg and St. Paul high schools is nothing short of miraculous.

So our first exclamation of pride goes out to the teachers and administrators who, against all odds, prompt and prod students to learn the basics.

As those students advance through school they are faced with additional challenges, not the least being state testing requirements that have little to do with education and everything to do with politics.

Eventually, the majority of local students will make their way to Newberg High School. The school itself has faced many challenges over the past two decades, including changes in formats that have come just during the four years recent grads have been on campus. Still students survive, nay, thrive.

That is best demonstrated in the scores of valedictorians, salutatorians in Newberg and St. Paul.

Schools reporter Seth Gordon scratched the surface by documenting the valedictorians and salutatorians at NHS, SPHS, Veritas School and C.S. Lewis Academy over the past few weeks.

Read through last week’s story about NHS’s 19 valedictorians and five salutatorians and you’ll meet young men and women who have accomplished much already and are headed off to some impressive schools where we have no doubt they will comport themselves well.

The group will attend a wide array of universities and colleges throughout the West and study everything from chemical engineering to pastoral ministry, from microbiology to graphic design.

You don’t get into schools like Oregon State University, UCLA and Corban College without having burned a lot of midnight oil and received good instruction from enthusiastic teachers.

Also documented on these pages a few weeks ago, Veritas valedictorians Kyle Hansen and Kaed Wilcox will study math/chemistry and computer science, respectively.

The SPHS valedictorian featured on the schools page in the June 3 edition of this newspaper was Bianca Milera. She will pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a nurse.

C.S. Lewis valedictorian Christian Blair and salutatorian Summer Huber will pursue degrees in microbiology and nursing/pre-med, respectively, while valedictorian Madison Willcuts will take a year off from school to sharpen her equestrians skills.

These students and the hundreds of others at NHS, SPHS, CSLA and Veritas can all breathe a collective sigh of relief now that their high school careers are over. Soon, however, many will immerse themselves in college and take on intellectual challenges for which we trust our local schools have prepared them well.

All we can say is good luck, well done and godspeed, 2015 graduates. We’ll be checking in from time to time to see how you’re doing. Do us proud!

Opinion