On Tuesday, Selma’s girl of the year, Mary Stewart, was honored, and Thursday the boy of the year will be honored. Both these events provide the city’s youth with an opportunity to look up to some of the great young role models in Selma and Dallas County and to celebrate some of the most accomplished high school students around the area. What’s even more inspiring is seeing how many of the girl of the year and boy of the year participants hope to return to Selma to give back to their hometown once they finish college.

This long-standing tradition of honoring the girl of the year and boy of the year is a great event to hold near the end of each school year because it pushes every student to not only excel in the classroom and in athletics, but also to get involved in volunteering their time toward community service.

We applaud the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International local chapter and the YMCA of Selma-Dallas County for the scholarships they provide to the girl of the year and the boy of the year. We encourage everyone to come out to the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the next boy of the year is chosen.