HONOR ROLLS DENOTE LEARNING IN PROGRESS

Once a quarter during the school year, the Southeast Missourian publishes honor rolls from all schools in our area that send them to us. Traditionally, hundreds of names of high-achieving students are published at the end of the first quarter in our Thanksgiving Day edition.

This year, readers saw page after page of names listing students whose grades merited placement on A and B honor rolls. Taken as a whole, the lists provided much to be thankful for. But more than that, the names represented the overall success story of schools in our area which, year after year and quarter after quarter, produce students who do well by whatever standards of measurement that are used.

It is still possible to get a meaningful education in our schools, but the success of any individual student probably depends as much on the motivation he or she receives at home as anything else.

To all the students who made the honor roll -- and to all their teachers who had a hand in their success, congratulations and best wishes for the remainder of your schooling, however long it is.