Recognition today could be inspiration for tomorrow

Published 9:16 am Friday, April 21, 2017

As we just published the other day, the committee devoted to Franklin High School’s Wall of Excellence is looking for the next set of nominees. For those of you who missed the story, the group last year began a recognition program of Franklin and Hayden high schools’ alumni who have excelled personally or professionally, as well as individuals who’ve made notable contributions to the city’s public school system.

If you’re going to nominate anyone in the categories of academics or careers, athletics, cultural or performing arts, they should be a graduate of Franklin or Hayden at least 10 years before 2017. Nominees for either the outstanding service or honorary achievement awards do not necessarily have to have been graduates.

The inaugural set of honorees in 2016 featured William H. Goodwin Jr., Larry B. Rose, Peggy H. Wilkins and the late Colgate W. Darden Jr. We think all of them were most worthy of selection, and look forward to when the new names will be announced in early November.

A lot of good people have graduated from Franklin and Hayden, so put on your thinking caps and seriously consider who you think is deserving of such recognition. They could well be the inspiration for a future set of scholars, athletes, artists and benefactors to the city and its schools.

To submit nominations from the FCPS website, click the “about us” tab, scroll down and click “Wall of Excellence.” Then click “online nomination form,” fill out the form and submit. Or download the form and submit it via email as a PDF document to wallofexcellence@fcpsva.org or mail it to P.O. Box 1130, Franklin, VA 23851. Or pick up a hard copy from S.P. Morton Elementary, J.P. King Jr. Middle or Franklin High and mail it in.

In addition to submitting the nomination form, a resume or letter of recommendation must be emailed to wallofexcellence@fcpsva.org or mailed to Wall of Excellence, P.O. Box 1130, Franklin, VA 23851.

For more information on the Wall of Excellence or assistance in submitting a nomination, contact Travis Felts, Principal of Franklin High School, at 562-5187, 651-9384 or tfelts@fcpsva.org.