ARMOUR -- The Armour Elementary gym was abuzz as children filed in Tuesday morning.
Most weren't quite sure what the commotion was about, but each child proudly displayed a blue ribbon and presidential seal in anticipation of the morning's school-wide ceremony.
U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., was the guest, but the school's students and teachers were the ones being honored.
Armour is one of 320 elementary schools in the nation -- and one of just two in the state -- to be named a 2008 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon school, an award bestowed for consistently high Dakota Step test scores from third-, fourth- and fifth- graders.
"Think about the thousands and thousands of schools across this country, and Armour Elementary was one of two in South Dakota, and only a little over 300 in the entire country," Thune told the crowd Tuesday. "That is a remarkable achievement."
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Students, staff and visitors celebrated with a pre-lunch assembly with Thune. The crowd was attentive throughout Thune's 15-minute address and was delighted by a slideshow of smiling students and teachers.
Armour Elementary was notified of the award last fall, and three representatives from the school attended a ceremony in Washington, D.C., to accept the actual Blue Ribbon award. Former Superintendent Wally Weatherford, who retired in 2008 after 16 years with the district, helped represent Armour in Washington.
"I thought, 'What a way to retire, with an award like that,'" Weatherford said. "It was fantastic."
Weatherford attributed part of the district's success to how openly Armour Elementary teachers embraced No Child Left Behind when the program was introduced in 2001. The teachers spent hours rewriting curriculum and reading guidelines, he said.
"It was a lot of extra hours, a lot of extra work. Our teachers were proactive about it, because they knew (No Child Left Behind) was something that was here to stay. Instead of being reactive to all the new things that were coming at us, they took it on. They met the challenge, and I think it paid," Weatherford said.
Burnell Glanzer, a longtime Armour School District employee who filled Weatherford's place as school superintendent and elementary principal, said his students and staff earned the Blue Ribbon.
"It's just an affirmation of what we're doing," Glanzer said. "We've always thought we produced good students, and this just gives us a boost, raises morale for our teachers and lets other people besides us know that we're doing a good job."
The tests showed the students are smart. Tuesday's ceremony showed they also are curious.
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When it was time for Thune to take questions, kids had several heavy ones in mind for the senator, including "How old are you?" and "Are you rich?"
Thune also regaled the gym crowd with tales of his high school basketball days. His last visit to the Armour Elementary gym, Thune said, was a night in 1978, when he played for Murdo. Though Murdo fell to Armour, Thune led his team with 22 points.
"I just wanted to tell you how great it is to be able to be here and celebrate with you," Thune said. "I want to encourage you to keep on keeping on."
Armour High School was also recognized for academic achievement last year when U.S. News and World Report named it one of the top high schools in the nation.
South Dakota's other Blue Ribbon School winner this year was Whitewood Elementary.
