THURSDAY, AUGUST 17,1989

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17,1989

Presumed innocent

Missing from last week’s editorial entitled “Paying the piper” was any explicit statement that the person accused of growing marijuana has not yet been tried, or convicted.

Under our system of laws, all persons accused of crimes are presumed to be innocent. The Commonwealth must prove the guilt of the accused.

David Blanchard shares these same rights — that he is presumed innocent, and that he must be proved guilty by the Commonwealth.

Last week’s editorial was not intended to judge Mr. Blanchard’s guilt or innocence. That, as one of our readers points out in a letter to the editor this week, is for the courts to decide.

A cornucopia

This week, we report on the expanded courses offered at the Rappahannock County High School this year.

There are advanced courses in Biology and French, elective offerings in family life and parenting as well as business and an employment seminar. Another course will teach students how to use a Computer-Aided Design program to do architectural and other mechanical drawing.

For advanced students, there will be an English literature class where they can study the great works of Western literature.

Though some may deride these new offerings as fluff, irrelevant to the basic educational objectives necessary in a school system, we would argue that they are the kinds of courses from which students can gain an immense amount of useful knowledge. Our world and our society has changed greatly from the times of our parents and grandparents. No longer do people spend their entire lives here, or work at only one job.

There are many diverse opportunities available for young people with a wide knowledge and a good education. Though not all students may wish to pursue those options, the challenge is there for the graduates who want to take it. ^

But our students cannot compete against those from larger school districts without the knowledge they can gain from diversified, elective programs.

We’re not suggesting that the schools should downplay or ignore the basic and fundamental elements of education. Those are essential for all students, whether they intend to go on to college or secure a job after graduation.

But the elective and advanced courses which the high school plans to offer this year allow an expansion of the students’ breadth of knowledge, as well as allowing * concentration in specific fields of interest.

These new courses are a good idea. We commend the school administrators for developing the curriculum to the point where they are available. And we hope that many students at the high school will take advantage of these new opportunities.