By Peter Hunt

The re-opening Jan. 13 of Oak Harbor High School showcased student talent and success with music, food, and visibly excited student guides proudly showing mom and dad their school. But the most inspirational aspect of the three hour celebration was, simply, the people. Our citizens showed up in the thousands to share in their rightfully earned honor as the owners of this great facility, and to celebrate student opportunities and new possibilities for Oak Harbor’s future.

Opportunity is what it’s all about. Hard work, discipline, and academic rigor are critical, but without the available opportunity to put these traits into action, they can prove for many students to be empty, feel-good phrases. Oak Harbor has a long history of providing opportunity and teaching the value of a dollar, particularly during challenging economic times.

It’s been two decades since the school district started Midway alternative high school (previously known as Outreach) under a partnership with the Navy. The first class was made up of sailors and their spouses under age 21 who had never earned a high school diploma. Within a short time, the program was opened to Oak Harbor High School students who, for one reason or another, were similarly at risk of not graduating. One size does not fit all in education, and it is no easy feat to make a comeback during a student’s high school career.

Today, because of Oak Harbor’s foresight, about 100 students have the opportunity to keep trying, to persevere in new and innovative ways instead re-attempting over and over again the same methods in the same atmosphere that didn’t work for those individuals the first time. (Despite its name, Midway is not an independent high school. It is a program of OHHS. Its students must meet OHHS graduation requirements; they earn OHHS diplomas; and they are part of OHHS graduation statistics.)

Our schools whole-heartedly support Home Connections, a growing network of parents actively engaged in their children’s education through what I call “home-schooling plus.” Home Connection uses school district facilities and resources to improve the opportunities for home-schooled students.

These two examples are in addition to a host of existing programs at the high school offering numerous challenges and special assistance, such as Advanced Placement classes and after school tutoring, meeting the diverse needs of our students.

In 2006, Oak Harbor voters wisely looked to the future, realizing fully that opportunity is a moving target. With advances in technology and changes in the world around us, we have to keep up to provide a successful 21st Century education. Thanks to the Oak Harbor voters, our students have opportunities to succeed in today’s world with our “new” high school: a state-of-the- art Career and Technical Education facility, new and expanded science labs, better technology (hardware, software, and learning tools), new math text books and curriculum, and more: A real auditorium with quality sound and viewing for performing arts, soon to be completed athletic fields (once staging for high school construction is no longer needed), and bright, open learning spaces that excite and engage students and teachers. Please visit your high school to see for yourself.

Thank you, Oak Harbor, for allowing our children these opportunities and showing the foresight to place our community firmly on track to stay ahead of future challenges.

Peter Hunt is president of the Oak Harbor School Board.