The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

I t's all about heart. We continue to be encouraged by the community service projects initiated by the young people of our valley.

Managing Editor Dian McClurg wrote a HeartBeat column earlier this month about the Draw the Line project led by Dayton High School junior Nicole Lambert, intended to keep kids and adults off alcohol.

Last week, we ran a story about Waitsburg High School junior Fletcher Baker joining the Waitsburg City Council as a youth representative (incidentally, we'd like to underscore that this was an initiative of Mayor Walt Gobel, whose long record on youth activities is cited in a separate letter from his wife, Gwen, on this page).

Dayton High School senior Davy Philips reported to us this month that he raised $2,000 for John Lindsey's fifthgrade ski program at Dayton Elementary, doubling his initial proceeds after his project got a match from Pepsi.

As graduation is just around the corner, it seems like a good time to remind seniors about the Times' community service scholarships, applications for which were passed along recently to the three schools.

As announced some months ago, the Times is honored to offer $500 to one student each from Prescott, Waitsburg and Dayton high schools for undertaking or participating in a community service project or outreach to the needy.

This need not be the seniors' graduation-year project. It can be a project or activity undertaken at any time during their time in high school and under any circumstances - as part of a church, youth group or service club program.

The most important thing is that the applicants demonstrate a thoughtful and passionate intention to make a difference in the lives of others. Plus they need to articulate this in the form of an essay describing in some detail their activities, how these helped others and why they chose them.

The Times plans to publish the essays from the three scholarship winners with their photographs and possibly interview the students for a story. Hopefully, this will launch a new tradition at our newspaper, giving us a chance to balance our emphasis on reporting high school sports with a special focus on other activities that help make students well-rounded graduates.

We've mentioned our reasoning for a dedication to high school sports coverage before. We feel our attention to the competitive success of students helps encourage their new found or continuing participation in these healthy, riskaverting activities that require a minimum GPA as well, thus shoring up academic performance.

Last year, we covered the launch of the new WP soccer program, which boosted grades among a number of students who had been struggling before. We anticipate the proposed Tigers wrestling program will have the same effect this coming winter.

Community service activities aren't like that. Though they may at times be team or class efforts, such as the high school food drive initiated by the Leos, the Lions Club youth auxiliary, they are usually individual projects without accompanying school requirements.

That means the intention and drive behind it truly come from the heart. In a small way, the Times wants to draw attention to these selfless projects and reward their young initiators with scholarship support and PR.

We will select applicants whose projects and back stories can inspire their younger peers and, possibly, other members of the community.

Of course many groups in our midst already instill a community spirit in our youths, such as Salt & Light, Leos, Boy Scouts, Rainbow Girls, Rural Green Youth Enterprises, Timothy Project and many others.

The Times' community service scholarships is intended to give young people another incentive to give back to their people and ultimately make good deeds a part of their lifestyle no matter where they are.

Around graduation time, we look forward to sharing with you the stories of our winners. To our high school seniors: this could be you! Now is the time to apply.