A Lesson in Scholastic Success

When it comes to education and offshoots like science fairs and academic decathlons, the best performers usually come from schools where the parents are affluent and the laboratories and equipment first-rate. Thus it was no surprise that Irvine schools, with a deservedly good reputation for providing a fine public education, won more than a third of the awards at this year’s Orange County Science and Engineering Fair.

The winners deserve congratulations. But also deserving praise are winners from schools without the advantages of Irvine--Santa Ana Valley High and the private Acaciawood. The duo finished behind only Irvine’s University and Woodbridge high schools, the fair’s frequent winners.

A chemistry teacher at Valley High, a school where 60% of the students have limited English ability and most come from homes with low incomes, said the students are successful at motivating themselves. Yet it is clear they also benefit from teachers who tell them they can excel and who show them how.

Setting high standards and helping students overcome obstacles are part of a good teacher’s makeup. That’s as true at Acaciawood, in existence only four years and forced to borrow laboratories for lack of its own, as it is at University, Woodbridge and Valley. The fair, which played host to 56 schools, provided a reminder that hard work and good instruction can trump poverty and language problems.