Lanier County primary school had a fantastic Renaissance pep rally. It was one of the best yet. The students really enjoyed the rock band that came to play. Thanks to the hard-working Renaissance team for making this first nine weeks a big success.

A shout-out to Phyllis Childree and LHS Off Broadway. What an outstanding performance of "AIDA"! Break a leg at competition this week.

After years of having arts programs cut from public schools, it is refreshing to see the theater programs expanding to the lower levels. There is research showing how much the school work of children is improved by learning the principles of music, the discipline of acting and the cooperation to put on a show. Bravo to the administrators and teachers willing to enrich the lives of our community's children in this way. Check the Web sites of the organizations listed in the editorial for information on free concerts and low cost plays that occur all year long.

To compare a $7.2 million dollar stadium to a $29 million dollar stadium is lame. The Times owes all Valdosta fans an apology and the staff writer that wrote all those disparaging comments should be barred from Cleveland Field. It’s not anyone’s fault but VSU that they don’t have their own facility and they could have partnered with the VBOE on a $15 million stadium. They had one problem. No money and I would say that is still the problem.

I see "Rant and Rave" is just full of right-wing comments this morning. It's good to see that The Times follows the same fair and balanced approach as Fox News!

To the heartless military guy who doesn’t want to hear the teacher’s sob story because he worked 24/7 for 38 years, last time I checked you had the option to get out of the military or never even go in unless you were drafted. Stop being so self-absorbed. Your job shouldn’t have to down play hers.

There is nothing going on in Afghanistan but a civil war. The U.S. presence there will not affect this. We could put 100,000 troops there, but it will not defeat Al Quaida or stabilize the Afghan government.

I agree with the comment about how students are being taught now. My first-and fourth-grader come home with homework that I don't even understand and I was an honor graduate.