Roy Blunt: “I thank my colleague for all the comments she has made about Judge Edwards, his family, and the school. This is truly a…”

“I thank my colleague for all the comments she has made about Judge Edwards, his family, and the school. This is truly a remarkable story. I know both of our staffs have been telling us for some time now of incident after incident of young people's lives that are being changed by this school, by a judge who decided he needed to get outside the courtroom to make a difference in the lives of kids. In fact, People magazine calls this the ``School of Last Resort.'' It is a chance, it is an opportunity of which many are taking advantage. Judge Ohmer, presiding judge of the circuit where Judge Edwards works, put out the following statement. He said: The editors of PEOPLE magazine have selected St. Louis Juvenile Court Judge Jimmie Edwards as one of the publication's `Heroes of the Year' for 2011. Judge Edwards was profiled in a recent issue of the magazine and the announcement was made in the November 7, 2011 issue. Quoted in this comment from his colleague, the magazine said: ``We chose men and women who reached across boundaries to help strangers or worked within their communities to deepen bonds. From Logan, Utah . . . to Judge Jimmie Edwards of St. Louis who started a school for wayward teens, the 2011 winners never let daunting odds stand in their way,'' said Managing Editor [of People magazine] Larry Hackett. In 2009, after watching a string of teen offenders come through his courtroom, Judge Edwards decided to take action.…”