At risk of sounding like a broken record: Our school district, admins, teachers and students, are worthy of praise.

Recently, graduation rates were released for Wyoming school districts and Powell’s schools were at or near the top of the heap, as usual.

PHS had a rate higher than all but one other districts with over 100 graduates and was well above Park County School District 6 in Cody, which has likewise been renowned for having really good schools, and Sheridan’s main school district, which has often been a bellwether for large school districts in the state.

Now, graduation rates are not the be-all, end-all. Graduates need to have been schooled to be able to tackle college, a trade school or an entry-level career path. They need to be knowledgeable citizens when they go to vote.

However, graduation remains one of the main goals of the school system, to ensure students are able to move on and advance to the next phase of their lives. It is vital then, that school districts are able to assist in preparing students for that next step, armed with a high school diploma.

What’s extremely laudable for the local district is that, not only did well over 90% of PHS students graduate on time, but 100% of students doing the virtual academy or the Shoshone Learning Center graduated on time. These are students who often left the traditional high school experience because they were struggling with it, and some are at higher risk for dropping out or otherwise not graduating on time.

Clearly in our school district, those students do not slip through the cracks, but are pushed to excel.

We have the chance to see products of our local high school system regularly here at the Tribune. Currently we have a PHS senior working in the editorial department, and last semester we had an SLC student.

It’s great to see firsthand how the teachers and staff in the district are preparing students to graduate and go on from there. And as a parent of two future high school students, it leaves me with a strong sense of optimism.