We have many student achievements documented in this week's edition.
On page A4 we introduce you to Quinn Runkle, a Halfmoon Bay student who is busy fundraising for a trip to Antarctica, where she will participate in a unique educational program about climate change.
On page B1, we follow up on the great success of Waking Life Records. This talented group of Chat grads recorded and released a double CD in June. Sales on the Coast have been brisk. Thanks to that and several fundraising concerts, Waking Life presented a cheque for more than $8,000 this week to community services in the hopes of creating a youth music program on the Coast.
We also report on several great initiatives from both students and teachers at the school board level.
SD46 trustees and the board have recognized many amazing students recently for achievements in the classroom and in athletics and for representing the Coast with class and respect. Teachers have not gone unnoticed by the board either.
So what's the point to all of this? As great as these achievements are and the joy we get from reporting them to the community, we're fearful that more of these great stories won't be able to be told unless there is an end to the education dispute.
We know teachers would rather be in a classroom, in a gym or on a sports field educating and empowering our youth. Instead, they are out in the cold with picket signs, locked in a bitter battle with the provincial government.
It's difficult to pick sides in the dispute. On one hand you have the teachers who are standing up for their rights and for the rights of students to a better education. On the other, you have the government, that has legislated teachers back to work. The strike is illegal and has been ruled so by the courts. The government is clear on their position and so too, it seems, are the teachers.
But this dispute has gone on long enough. Someone has to make the first move, offer up an olive branch and get back to the table.
It's time to put down the picket signs and pick up pencils and textbooks.
