Our story last week about employees of Blue Cross Blue Shield ND adopting a Minot elementary school was a breath of fresh air.

Senior Staff Writer Jill Schramm told us how 12 Minot BCBS employees borrowed the idea from their Fargo office – to pick one school and invest heavily in its kids’ education through active volunteerism.

They chose Washington Elementary and, as Schramm put it, “Life has been root beer, story time and other fun for employees of Blue Cross Blue Shield in Minot since …”

“Since then, employees have partnered with classrooms to read once a month. They have conducted Junior Achievement activities, served as lunch buddies, helped with gas stamp collections for families in need and with Family Engagement Night, hosted a pizza party for the classroom collecting the most boxtops, served tacos and participated in a Halloween fun night,” Schramm wrote.

It’s hard to imagine a corporation such as BCBS putting that much time and effort into what some others might call “playing school.” Hey, don’t knock it. Our kids need all the attention we can give them these days, and the good folks at BCBS have gone above and beyond what anybody should expect from them.

They are such good role models; watch and learn.

But the story isn’t over yet.

School may be out now, but the relationship has not ended by any means. The mentors from BCBS now are planning summer activities as they continue their efforts to enhance education and wellbeing for students. They also expect to partner with Washington Elementary for years to come.

Well done. We don’t see quite this level of sacrifice and commitment displayed very often, not today.

One of the quotes in Schramm’s story, spoken by Breann Bischof, individual sales representative with BCBS, was a gem and sums up the kind of statement their team hopes to make.

“Our goal is to make an impact on our community, be active in our community, let everyone know that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minot is here.”

There is no doubt about that. Mission accomplished.