A rose to Fairview Elementary School, which officially closes on June 30, almost 69 years since it opened. The closure, along with the closing of Franklin Academy last year, was part of the Columbus Municipal School District’s transition to a grade-span school system and a shrinking of the district’s footprint. Fairview teachers and students will be relocated to other district schools for the 2026-27 school year and beyond. Fairview approached its end with a flourish in its final years, jumping from a “D” rating to a top-tier “A” rating under the Mississippi Department of Education ratings. While the transition will ultimately benefit the students, saying goodbye to Fairview is a bittersweet moment, especially for the thousands of students for whom the old neighborhood school was the beginning of their formal education.

A rose to Mississippi State’s softball team for its historic run to the Women’s College World Series. The Bulldogs earned their first trip to the eight-team WCWS by winning the regional in Oregon, then stunned third-ranked Oklahoma on the Sooners’ home field in a best-of-three Super Regional, adopting a memorable rallying cry of “An underdog is still a freakin’ dog.” Although the Bulldogs failed to advance to the championship round of World Series play, making it to the WCWS for the first time in school history is an achievement to be celebrated. We congratulate our Bulldogs for a season that won’t soon be forgotten.

A rose to the Junior Auxiliary of Columbus, which received six national JA awards during this month’s annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The Columbus chapter won the Award of Excellence and the Crown Club Award for its 736 volunteer hours. The club also won awards for its special education program, clothing fair and social media awareness program. National honors are nothing new to JA of Columbus, which has established a reputation for excellence within the national organization. Perhaps no other civic organization requires the kind of commitment that JA members make. Members contributed more than 9,500 service hours in service of the community’s children this year alone. We congratulate JA of Columbus on these well-deserved honors and what they mean to our children.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.