Last Friday Greenville High School received special recognition in the form of the Alabama Safe Schools Initiative 2005 Award of Excellence.

Signifying the importance of this award, Attorney General Troy King took time out to visit the Camellia City and personally recognize Principal Dr. Kathy Murphy and the faculty and staff of Greenville High School. GHS was one of only eight schools selected to receive this honor, which is a testament to the importance our school officials have placed in making Greenville High School one of the safest in the state.

"The programs at Greenville High demonstrate a commitment and diligence to protect students and to provide a safe learning environment," King said in an assembly address.

However, as Dr. Murphy stated after thanking King for the award, maintaining school safety is an ongoing process. Diligence and awareness is required on a daily basis by school officials to ensure our children's safety is never compromised. And safety, or lack thereof, said Murphy, directly impacts the learning process. In short, frightened children are not good learners.

"In the absence of a safe environment, learning can be hampered and even non-existent," she said.

Other area schools should look to GHS as a model for school safety. We applaud Greenville High School's recognition and hope other school systems around the state strive to maintain safe schools for our children.