Preventing students from dropping out of school has been the focus of much attention in our local paper lately, from jargon-filled editorials by educators to full-page ads contrasting "Bling" (what you get when you graduate) and "No Bling" (what you settle for when you drop out).

I'm not even going to comment on the bling factor.

But here's a choice quote (the lead, in fact) from a front-page article about a recent dropout prevention forum in a neighboring county:

"If a kazoo-playing cookie maker and a teacher on a tabletop don't help solve the dropout problem in Monroe County, it's hard to say what else will."

Yeah . . . that should fix it!

Mary Jo Tate

P.S. - In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that the kazoo-playing cookie maker was Wally Amos of Famous Amos cookies. He's supposed to be a great motivational speaker. Even so . . .