There have been a few comments about my column suggesting that I seem to always present a rather negative view of education.

In this column I will present some positives that I have learned recently and then compose some “articles” that I would like to be able to write about in the future.

These “articles” will be modifications of articles that I have read in my daily readings about education.

First some “real” information.

This past week I learned about a local young man who has an invitation to attend the Summer Program at Cambridge University in Cambridge, England.

I would consider it quite an honor to have an invitation to attend Cambridge. I have visited Cambridge at least three times and one has to be impressed with the architecture and scholarship that is exhibited there. Many of the buildings date from the 1200’s and they have been very well preserved. A trip on the River Cam is a highlight of any trip to Cambridge.

The student guides have some very interesting stories to tell about the history of Cambridge. Isaac Newton got his Ph.D there at the age of 16 I believe and went on to some pretty solid accomplishments. The opportunity to walk the “Greens” at Cambridge has to be a real accomplishment.

Speaking of Cambridge, at a recent School Board meeting it was announced that of the top 300 students in America, and the term “Student” certainly applies here, 13 are students at Federal Way High School!

This is the first year that Federal Way has been in the running for these awards and I believe that they have done an outstanding job. Federal Way is still the only high school west of the Rockies that is in the Cambridge Program. Next year they will be joined by Juanita High School.

This just goes to show that with the right focus kids in this area can do great things on the chalkboard as well as the scoreboard, but we seem to laud the scoreboard much more highly than the chalkboard!

Johns Hopkins University, the first private research university in America, runs a program that tries to identify talented students and schools where they can thrive.

If you have a student, not an attendee, which you believe has scholastic talent, their “Talent Search” offers some great advantages for better education. This year they have identified the “Best” schools, in their opinion in the State of Washington.

Mirror Lake and St. Vincent de Paul are on this list. A quick review of the State’s achievement records for Mirror Lake showed me why they had been selected.

And finally from the “Real World”

Several students, not attendees or pupils, have had the good fortune to be actively recruited by some of the finest, most competitive, colleges in the nation. In some cases this has included an all expense paid trip to visit the campuses that are usually in New England.

This again shows that with the right “Guidance” and the right effort true achievement can be had in Federal Way.

You didn’t see these stories published in the paper, but you have seen many articles about some of our “pupil athletes” who have been “signed” to “play” something at usually some colleges often with some lax admission standards.

Is there something wrong here? I think so.

Now for some articles I would like to be able to write, I have used some comic personalities to identify these situations that really take place in places where they take education more seriously.

1. “Dagwood Bumstead,” a Junior at Todd Beamer High School, in the Math, Science, Health and Fitness Academy has been admitted into the Clarkson School at Clarkson University where he will begin his studies next fall. Dagwood hopes to graduate from Clarkson’s famous Engineering program four years from now.

2. “Cookie Bumstead,” a Senior at Todd Beamer in the School of Global Leadership and Economics has been accepted at the London School of Economics for their 4 year program in International Economics. Cookie was one only 45 American students admitted to LSE this year. Cookie has declined admission at Amos Tuck and Wharton business schools.

3. “Tootsie Woodly,” a Sophomore at Thomas Jefferson has been accepted into the Lester Pearson College in Victoria, Canada. Lester Pearson College is a United World College that specializes in Marine Biology and Music. Tootsi, an Oboe student, plans to continue her musical studies at the Victoria Conservatory of Music while majoring in Marine Biology at this International Baccalaureate School. Her admission into the Bates College Marine Conservation Biology program after Pearson College will be paid for by Pearson College.

4. “Herb Woodly,” a Senior at Decatur High School, has been accepted into Harvey Mudd College’s Engineering program with a full scholarship. Herb attributes this good fortune to his participation in the “Project Lead the Way” Engineering program offered at Decatur and “plenty of hard work.”

5. This year the Federal Way secondary schools have reached the national average for National Merit Scholar Semi-Finalists. After a long drought when numbers were three or less they have now reached the 1% of senior class national average. It is so pleasing to see that Federal Way is now attained an “average” academic achievement level as measured by the College Board.

6. This past year Federal Way’s high schools had college recruiters from over 300 competitive colleges visit our campuses looking for student scholars. In past years less than 20 recruiters from competitive colleges have made visits. This is a real measure of our schools beginning to meet the competition from some of the nation’s finest high schools.

And finally,

7. The “Smurf” Corporation has selected Federal Way for its new research facility that will employ over 700 Scientists, Engineers, and Technicians. President “Blue” Smurf told the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce at their monthly meeting that the quality of education in Federal Way was the deciding factor in the selection of Federal Way for this facility. The first phase of this facility will be finished in 2012.

Mr. Smurf expects employment to rise to over 1200 in the facility by 2015.

Finding a location that would offer superior education to the Smurf employees was of paramount importance to the Smurf Corporation.