What a sight it must have been Friday when 74 young people celebrated graduating from Burdick Job Corps Center in the 25th anniversary year of the founding of the Center.

Those young people deserve the community’s applause and congratulations, whether one has ever had an acquaintance or family member attend Job Corps or not. So too does the institution, which continues to be a point of light for our community.

Job Corps nationwide has a noble objective. Job Corps provides opportunities for disadvantaged young people between the ages of 16-24 to learn, acquire valuable job skills and to craft a vision of their future regardless of background. Job Corps personnel try to ensure that students are all matched with a job or site when they complete the programs at Burdick Job Corps. Students also come up with long-term goals for their lives and picture where they want to be at within 10 years.

Many programs and institutions target this vulnerable population with varying degrees of success. Assisting youngsters overcome challenged backgrounds to become successful members of society is an admirable objective.

Burdick Job Corps achieves just that.

On Friday, Sen. John Hoeven addressed graduates and guests and pointed out significant statistics to illustrate Burdick Job Corps’ achievement. Hoeven said there are 124 Job Corps Centers in the United States and the Burdick Job Corps Center is one of the best. It ranks eighth in the country in placement and average wage earned and No. 3 in outreach and admissions.

Impressive numbers for the Center in Minot.

Minot Daily News congratulates graduates and wishes them well in their future pursuits; and congratulations to the founders, supporters, administration and staff at Burdick Job Corps Center. Another job well done.