The question in my mind about the Natchez-Adams School District has always been, “Do our public schools provide the right tools for students to succeed?”

There are many ways to drive a nail.

You can use a rock picked up from the ground. You can use the heel of your shoe. You can even take a whack at it with a stick.

But the best way by far to drive a nail is with a hammer.

Having the right tool can mean the difference between doing a job carelessly and doing a job quickly and efficiently.

Screwdrivers, wrenches, hacksaws, pliers — each has its own purpose.

Fill up your toolbox with the right tools and you are assured of getting most tasks done successfully — that is as long as you know how to use the tools.

In my mind, the same can be said of education. Schools are meant to equip students with a toolbox filled with a variety of tools.

By the end of their high school days, students should be able to take this toolbox filled with math, English and science skills and begin to apply them to the challenge of building new lives.

As for the Natchez-Adams School District, many residents question whether the district is providing its students with the right tools.

For the past decade, area students have consistently underperformed on state tests.

Listen to economic development officials and area leaders. All lament the state of public education. “The schools are not doing their job,” they say.

Then listen to Guy Wimberly.

A Natchez High School senior, Wimberly has done what no other student in Natchez has done in many years — in both public and private schools. Thursday morning, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation named Wimberly to its annual list of the best and brightest students in the country.

Using the Preliminary SAT test, the organization determines the top one percent of the 1.4 million students who take the test.

Instead of testing students on specific facts learned in class, the test measures how students apply the skills they learned in school — in other words, how well the students know how to use the tools in their toolbox.

In my eight years in Natchez, no other student has been named to this list.

It is a huge honor, one that comes with big benefits. Being named to the list makes students eligible for thousands of scholarships to the country’s best universities.

I have said before there are many factors that go into making a successful student. Strong parental guidance and the will to learn are certainly at the top of the list.

But without the right tools, learning is impossible. Without the equations, the language skills, the history lessons, there are no skills to apply.

If there is anything that the Natchez-Adams Public Schools can take away from this week’s announcement, it is this: Natchez-Adams public schools provide their students with the necessary tools to succeed.

Wimberly’s success shatters the perception that the public schools are not teaching the right critical thinking skills or the right subjects.

His success flies in the face of parents who blame the teachers for not teaching.

Instead of making excuses, let’s focus on those things that are preventing our public school students from succeeding, like the lack of strict discipline, poor facilities, parents not participating in their children’s education and the increase in classroom disruption.Thursday’s fight that resulted in 11 arrests is but one example.

The tools are there. It is time for students and their parents to use them.

Ben Hillyer is the web editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or by e-mail at ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.