There have been times in the 27 years that I have been doing a feature like this — its first edification was The Madison Times Hall of Fame — that the central office would hit the magic button on the computer and a list of eligible students would print out and these would be sent out to the multicultural services coordinators or guidance counselors. Now it appears that someone at each high school — whom I don’t know — generates the list.

And then I come out to each high school, sometimes 3-4 times to have the students complete the student information form and for me to take their photo. Sounds easy right?

Well no it isn’t. It seems that no matter our best intentions, the school visits don’t start until May. But they have to weave through a lot of other things going on like Fine Arts Week at West High and student trips and other functions and I’m not the only one asking for student information.

And then there is the two weeks of AP testing. A lot of the graduating seniors of color do AP testing, which is a wonderful thing. But it’s like trying to thread a needle when the needle keeps moving. It’s hard to schedule a time when most everyone is involved in the testing. There’s a lot of bobbing and weaving going on to find the right space to get the most students to come down.

And so it was the week before the Memorial Day weekend and Monday-Thursday were filled up with scheduled school visits with my visits to East and La Follette scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. Well Wednesday got canceled because of the downed trees and electric lines. And come to find out that East and La Follette had planned or spontaneous Senior Skip Days on Thursday. I felt like the Maytag Repairman on those days. And so more visits were planned for this week and I got my last information sheets and photos yesterday afternoon. It’s a panic.

And then there are the non-MMSD schools to also work with. There are a lot of moving parts. We ended up with about 265 students participating in The Hues Row of Excellence. Plus there are the school personnel to work with. All in all, I think that there are over 300 people involved in this effort. And it’s not always the case that we are working in synch. It can be a lot of anxiety and worry especially when a few people blow past the deadline while I am facing a stiff deadline of the press at Capital Newspapers. That’s more moving parts.

But in the end, it is all worthwhile and I always get a sense of renewal listening to and writing the stories of these young graduates. And they have been a resilient group of scholars. Both the high school students and the college graduates began their respective academic stages in the fall of 2020 when school was pretty much virtual and everyone was relatively isolated and there were a lot of mental health issues developing and little socialization was going on.

In spite of all of that, the graduates within these pages of The Capital City Hues have excelled and are set to move on to the next stage in their lives. They are the epitome of resilience and excellence.

Anmd so even though it’s been the most difficult Hues Row of Excellence that I have ever produced, it is also probably the most rewarding because I know that these young people matter and they are going to make a positive difference in this world. And that is the best news to report.

I have to give thanks to all of the schools and their staff who make this issue possible. It’s not something that they have to do. They are as committed to letting these kids’ light shine as I am. While I want to name names, I know that I will miss more than one, so I will have to leave it as a group hug.

I am proud of all of the young people profiled in this issue. They have faced the biggest health pandemic in a century and have excelled in spite of it. As they say, they have the right stuff.

There will be other adversities that come their way, but they have the fortitude, friendships and relationships to overcome any obstacle in their way.

Way to go Class of 2024. Keep on excelling!!!