Too often we are accused of 'sensationalizing' bad news to sell newspapers. Granted, drugs, sex and violence sell more newspapers than other stories, but is that a reflection on us or on you, the reader?
We talked to a group once and said we could have a story that General Motors was opening a plant in Escambia County, Ala., and would employ 5,000 people and our rack sales would drop. If we run a story about a preacher abusing a little boy, we'll run out of papers.
We try our best to give a balance. This week is a perfect example. In today's newspaper we have a story on the front page about Jay High School's Jamie Harrison, whose artwork was selected as one of the best in U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz's Virtual 2020 Congressional Art Competition.
To some, it may not seem like a big deal. It seemed big to us. Jamie's work was judged against hundreds and hundreds of entries across the First Congressional District that includes Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Escambia, Walton and portions of Holmes counties. Think about that for a while.
Most of the credit goes to Jamie but credit also needs to go to Jay High School and its art teacher Teresa Dobson.
Obviously, Jamie has some natural talent for art, but the training, advice and mentoring she received from her teachers took her to a new level.
In a time where we feel our educational system puts too much emphasis on the pure academics to help raise test scores, it's refreshing to see a strong emphasis at Jay in the arts.
The arts, much like sports, can grab a student's attention. It gives them the motivation to want to go to school and learn. For some students, that motivation away from the three R's is the driving force for them to succeed in learning the three R's.
Jamie's piece will now hang in Rep. Gaetz's Pensacola office for a year for everyone to see.
Congratulations and a job well done by all.
