Congratulations!

Ballerinas look beautiful when dancing “en pointe.” But remove the pink shoes and ugliness sometimes lurks. Blisters, bunions, blackened toenails.

Two young ballerinas, Sacajawea Middle School students Caroline Tripp and Anne Pauw, thought of a possible solution to aching, ugly feet. What if the ballet shoes contained a polymer gel that shaped itself to the dancer’s foot? Their idea won them a regional award in the Explora Vision science competition and a chance to compete nationally.

The media is often criticized for its coverage of young people who mess up, its screaming headlines when students kill each other.

Tripp and Pauw made the front page of this newspaper Thursday, and they belonged there. They serve as a reminder that young people everywhere are using their minds and bodies for great things, even if the media doesn’t always report it.

Congratulations to Tripp and Pauw for their creativity; they represent thousands of young people just like them in our community.