From the Helm: Students of Distinction program represents all that’s good about Gig Harbor

You might have noticed in last week’s print edition and online the return of the profiles for the Students of Distinction program.

Yes, it’s that time of the year again when we give the community a chance to get to know 38 of the most outstanding students in the Peninsula School District. The profiles tell you a little bit about what makes them tick, where they get their motivation, and what kind of outstanding awards that motivation and determination has helped them earn.

I always look forward to attending the yearly banquet and seeing all of the students beaming with pride when they are announced and walk up to the stage. I feel like I know them personally when I see them up there because I have read over and edited their profile or have edited other stories — in the sports and news sections — that have highlighted their accomplishments. It also offers me a neat chance to get to sit down and hear from them as part of the panel interviews that The Gateway hosts each year. It’s a great honor to be able to share these kinds of stories with the community.

Especially with the changing landscape of newspapers and online media, I’m proud and honored to be able to represent and give each student a positive representation of their hometown newspaper.

While this newspaper debuted the Students of Distinction program several years ago, it has truly been supported by a number of businesses and nonprofits in the Gig Harbor area. When staffing challenges within our company posed a challenge to keeping the program afloat, it got a tremendous boost when the Greater Gig Harbor Foundation offered to step in and take over a big part of the workload and planning that goes into putting on a banquet.

And when I was in meetings to strategize the future of the program, I was overwhelmed with how much support and excitement there is around it and how many students rave about it once they move on to bigger and better things.

Enjoy getting to know these outstanding students — and more importantly, perhaps — make it be known to them how great it would be for them to come back to Gig Harbor and do great things once they’ve graduated college. I’ve heard a lot of reasons why people think Gig Harbor is such a great community, and I believe the success and acceptance of this program is one of those reasons.

This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 11:00 AM with the headline "From the Helm: Students of Distinction program represents all that’s good about Gig Harbor."