If you were a young lady and became pregnant, you just disappeared. At that time the disappearance was a grand mystery. As we grew older, we realized that in actuality the pregnant young lady had usually been shipped off out of state to some relative's house because of the shame of it all.

Fortunately, that doesn't have to happen now as most school districts have an alternate school where students with behavioral problems or who have difficulty working in a traditional classroom setting can be sent for a period of time and then return to a normal school environment. We are sure that some of our readers today were given another chance to succeed because of our alternate school, Sharp Learning Center.

During a recent meeting of the Newton County Board of Education, Sharp Principal Gabriel Burnette told the board that of the 57 students sent to Sharp from one of the local high schools last semester only two returned. This is remarkable.

Burnette and his staff at Sharp are doing a great job in motivating their charges to return to the system and join their peers in striving for success.

We salute Principal Burnette and the whole staff at Sharp. Keep up the good work.