Schools in Surry County continue to excel on a state-wide level, both academically and athletically, and the people of the county should be proud of their education systems.

This past weekend, students from Pilot Mountain Middle School placed second in the state in the annual Battle of the Books competition, a feat the middle-schoolers should be proud of achieving.

The difficult road to the state-level contest began before last year’s school year even concluded as students interested in making the team started reading the books on the list of those on which they would be quizzed.

Then, the Pilot Mountain students spent months as a team studying every aspect of every book so they would know the details of what happens and to whom it occurs, when, how, etc., inside and out.

This information was then used to win at the county-wide competition, where they went up against teams from Surry County Schools’ other three middle schools.

The team then beat all of the other system-level winners in a regional competition, before going on to compete in this past weekend’s state contest.

And our local students were among the best of the best, as a three-way tie for first ended up with Pilot Mountain Middle’s team in second place at the end of the day.

Athletically, teams from all of our school districts continue to do well, as competitors in tennis and track and field are already in, or headed into, state playoff competitions.

Already this school year, state championships and second and third places have been brought home by Surry County students in a number of sports.

We wish all of our athletes the best of luck as the spring sports continue with state playoff games and the chance to make it to a state championship competition on the line.

We congratulate all those students who continue to represent Surry County academically and athletically as they strive to achieve the top awards in their respective interests. Keep up the good work.