As I prepared to see my first child walk across the stage to receive his diploma, I started thinking about all the good things that go on in our schools.

We have students learning about giving back to their community at all levels through service projects.

At the last school board meeting, we had a group of second-graders come and tell us about a service learning project they have been working on with the Bread of Life.

The excitement in their voices and the pride in their hearts was unmistakably something that will resonate with them for a long time, and I hope will be the beginning of many more community involvement projects they do over their lifetime.

The class of 2011 at Cony High School was an excellent example of the success of our students: 74 percent went on to either a two- or four-year college, 5 percent joined the military, while others joined the work force.

A few of the almost 50 separate colleges our students chose to attend were Bentley, Colby, Johnson and Wales, Princeton, Kennebec Valley Community College, St Joseph’s and University of Maine.

The class of 2012 is another good example of the hard work our students do.

Among the schools our students will attend next year are Harvard, Colby, Champlain, Emerson, Thomas, WestPoint Prep, Culinary Institute of America, St Joseph’s, a variety of the UMaine branches, and many Maine community colleges.

All of this would not be possible without the team effort I see going on in our district.

Whether it is staff or students, they all work hard, together as a team to achieve these results.

I applaud our team and am proud and humbled to be a member of it.

Susan Campbell, chairperson

Augusta Board of Education

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