ENID YOUTHS SET AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER TROUBLED TEENS TO FOLLOW.

It's never too late! Eight Enid teenagers who were slipping, seemingly
inexorably, into a dark abyss of bad attitudes and bad grades in school -
sometimes fueled by drugs and alcohol - have proven troubled teens can
alter their course.

These are kids - some of them from broken homes - who have made a
180-degree turn in their lives.

Usually it is the untroubled, straight as an arrow, straight-A students
with several scholarships tucked under their arms who receive high praise
from everyone at graduation time - and well they should. We certainly would
not shy away from giving them all the credit they deserve.

But we also believe these eight kids, recipients of this year's Turnaround
Achievement Awards, should be recognized for resolving their problems,
changing their attitudes and putting their lives back on track. The awards
are sponsored annually by Oakwood Bowl and the News & Eagle.

The eight award recipients were honored at a breakfast Saturday morning at
Oakwood Country Club. They are: Chris Abbot, Tony Campbell, Misty
Dickerson, Devon Smith Dunn, Whitney Johnson, Tamarra "T.J." Kellogg,
Johnny Mullen and Ashlei Wilson.

Most of these turnaround kids probably would be quick to tell us it wasn't
easy, but 180-degree turns never are easy. Most teens and many adults can
make a few degrees difference in the direction of their lives, but few can
change completely.

Yet that is precisely what these teens have accomplished. If we asked them,
they would tell us they had help in realizing they could do it.

They got help from teachers, counselors, their peers and their parents.
Some of them made several trips in and out of drug re-hab programs or
foster care before making the big turnaround.

But, ultimately, the decision was theirs. They had to decide they were
tired of living that way, and they found it was easier to do the right
thing the first time.

By making such marked changes in their lives, they have become role models
for other troubled teens seeking a way out of their mazes. They see these
kids do it, and they must figure they can do it, too.