Of Mind And Body

The Cardinals are going to Spokane, where we wish them the very best of luck. We hope they go far, very far.

But even if they don't come back with a single win, their historic double district championship is already a huge victory - not just for the teams, the players' parents and the coaches, but for the Waitsburg and Prescott school districts.

And in the case of Waitsburg, it is the second victory in a single week.

Before the Cardinals basketball squads even set foot in the Sherwood Athletics Center at Whitman College Friday night, the state's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education announced that Waitsburg is one of 186 schools statewide to receive a Washington Achievement Award for 2010.

So while the basketball program was recognized with two district championship trophies on the athletics side, Waitsburg's academic efforts put the district among the top performers in seven categories: overall excellence, language arts, math, science, extended graduation rate, improvement and closing achievement gaps.

It is the second year in a row that Waitsburg was selected for the award from among more than 2,700 schools in the state.

"It's significant," said Aaron Wyatt, communications manager for the Washington State Board of Education. "It's not an accident your school is receiving this award. Obviously, they're doing some things well."

A balance between athletics and academics is a mark of true excellence for a school. The Greeks figured out centuries ago that a well-rounded upbringing consists of equal attention to mind and body.

To excel at this to the extent the Waitsburg School District does is exceptional.

To create such an exceptional environment in which students can thrive in sports and academics takes an extraordinary community of teachers, coaches, parents, fans and boosters.

It's hard to put a finger on exactly what culture, what chemistry it takes to make it all come together, but since we moved to Waitsburg, we have been struck by one overriding aspect of this and the other communities in the valley: selflessness.

It exists in Dayton, Prescott, Dixie and Starbuck just as much as it does in Waitsburg.

We see it on the court, where players prefer to pass the ball to another player if that athlete has a better chance of scoring than drive it to the hoop for possible personal glory.

We see it in teaching and school staffs, who view their job more as a calling and a passion than a paycheck. Some will come and watch the Cardinals play on Kison Court, then go back to their classroom and finish up their grading or lesson plans.

We see it in the countless hours put in by the members of the school board with the meetings being merely the tip of the iceberg.

We see it in coaches who work many more hours than their contracts require, attending summer training camps pro bono to lay the groundwork for a successful sports season.

We see it in the parents and the many other highly unpaid volunteers who show up for every task for which they signed up, every time, like clockwork, be it for sports, for 4-H, for FFA, for any activity that provides a healthy outlet for kids.

We see it in the service clubs that support youth activities or have a youth chapter. We see it in the businesses that support all sorts of youth activities or offer scholarships to graduates.

It is this selflessness that not only makes all these programs possible and successful, it promotes a culture that students will take with them, carrying values that will make them, their own families and the communities they choose to settle in successful.

Those district trophies handed out at Sherwood were held up by a lot of hands, some visible, many not.

It takes an entire community to make a winning season.

Congratulations, Waitsburg.