On Sept. 2, the headline screaming across the front page of the Sun Journal captured the horror in New Orleans: “Anarchy, desperation.”

With so much going wrong, with so many dead and perhaps millions left homeless, the clouds of despair can cast a shadow over just about everything else.

We can’t let that happen.

That same day, another front-page story told readers about Montello kindergarten teacher Donna Tardif, who was named Maine’s 2006 Teacher of the Year.

One parent said that Tardif turned her child on to learning. A student said that she emphasizes the positive, not the negative. Parents like her so much, they tried to keep Tardif as their kids’ teacher by getting her to teach second grade. She’s known for her enthusiasm and dedication. But to take an appropriate measure of the impact she’s had, consider Kent Mayerson. During the assembly in Tardif’s honor, Kent, her former student now in the first grade, ran onto the stage and gave her a huge hug.

Tardif inspires her students. When the world seems so messed up, even to the eyes of children, that inspiration is more important than ever. Lewiston is lucky to have teachers like Donna Tardif.