Teaching us the right lesson

Three Chicago public high schools -- Crane, Julian and Simeon -- made the news in the last year for all the wrong reasons. Violence rocked each one, destroying lives and casting an ugly shadow over these South and West side schools.

But violence is not what defines these schools.

Each day, hundreds of students showed up for class, worked hard and many are now on their way to college. Most are just plain good kids. That should go without saying, but the sad truth is we could all use a reminder.

We got that in Sunday's Sun-Times, with profiles by reporter Kara Spak of five top students at the three schools.

Taiesha Stroud cried (along with her mom and grandma) when she got into the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Taurus Rutherford Jr. praised Julian High for changing his life. Jameson Dixon Jr. credited his mom and dad for keeping him on the right track.

Thanks for the hard work, graduates, and thanks for the reminder.