Congrats to these outstanding students. They should receive all of the accolades they can at this point in their life. Their efforts and accomplishments should be noted and encouraged. As they get older, only their production will be noticed.
It's dangerous to be a news junkie these days.
The news is omnipresent, for one thing. For another, a lot of it is depressing or scary.
But if you have even a snippet of sadness or a scintilla of cynicism, we invite you -- no, we urge you -- to turn to the Best & Brightest section inside today's Chronicle .
In it, you'll find a summation of some of the smartest, most active and most caring high school seniors in the world.
And we don't think that's an exaggeration. This country grows some of the best kids in the world, and these 25 are at the very top.
In their truncated biographies -- there just isn't enough space to detail everything these enterprising youths are into -- you will find enough encouragement and hope to get you through the roughest news cycle.
It's enough to make even a grizzled newsie think we'll be OK.
These students from all over the CSRA not only have some of the highest grades, but they act like they have all kinds of spare time -- volunteering at existing charitable agencies, creating their own, tutoring peers and relatives and excelling at every manner of extracurricular activity.
They're on every sort of team there is, and they excel with their mind, body and spirit.
Erika De La Cruz of Greenbrier High School plays flute, guitar, bassoon and tenor saxophone -- all at once, for all we know.
Beth Caldwell, valedictorian at Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School -- perennially one of the top schools in Georgia -- proposed a Richmond County student advisory committee, and the district created it. She also is a student adviser to state Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox.
Michael Walden, valedictorian at A.R. Johnson Magnet School, has been accepted to an Ivy League school. And another. And another. And another. Yep, four of them. He is planning his own Fortune 500 company. Don't get in his way.
Joshua Coleman, a home-schooled student, is considered the top student in his physics class -- at Augusta State University. For two years now, he's won first place in the robot ramble competition at the state Science Olympiad.
These are just some examples of what we're growing in these parts. And again, their academic and athletic accomplishments, some of the best in the city, are matched or exceeded by their charitable pursuits.
These are amazing young men and women. Read about them. Get to know them.
They'll make you feel better about everything.
The Chronicle and its partners -- such as presenting sponsor Windsor "Recession, What Recession?" Jewelers -- do a lot of different things together in the community each year. But the Best & Brightest awards may be the best.
And the brightest.
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