Get out the brooms, because the Durham Bulls swept their way to the Governor's Cup Championship this week.

Our Bulls captured their third International League championship in eight seasons Thursday night with a 12-inning, 3-2 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The Bulls had won the first two games of the five-game series here in Durham.

The championship game was exciting to the end, with the Bulls trailing 2-0 in the eighth inning when Justin Ruggiano walked and Elliot Johnson singled. With two outs, Desmond Jennings singled to score both runners to tie the game.

In the top of the 12th, Bulls catcher John Jaso doubled and was driven home by Johnson with the winning run.

The Bulls have been a model of excellence since moving up from A to AAA 12 years ago and becoming a farm team of the Tampa Bay Rays, making the playoffs in nine of those years.

Congratulations to the Bulls on another marvelous season, capped by another championship. It just doesn't get any better.

n It's undeniably true that if you have a teacher who inspires you, it can change your life. It's undeniable because it's happened to so many people.

What makes a teacher special? Lots of things, like knowledge of subject, communications skills, empathy, etc.

But we would posit that just about all of the best teachers make their subjects fun. And if students are having fun, there's no stopping them.

Take Myra Halpin, for example. She's one of the best teachers at one of the best schools for science and math in the nation -- the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics in Durham.

She teaches chemistry, which most students find dull. Not Halpin's students.

"If you can't have fun, it's not chemistry," she told her class one morning, as reported by The Herald-Sun's Matthew Milliken.

Halpin has a truckload of prestigious honors. She's twice been chosen in NASA's teacher-in-space program, although she hasn't made it into orbit yet. The long list of honors won by her students is probably the best evidence of her impact.

This week, she was honored by local chapter of the American Chemists Society for her service. So we thought it would be a good time to pile on with this week's Durham Grit Award for a great teacher.

n It must be frustrating for young black males to hear over and over about their shortcomings. One program after another singles them out for help. We shouldn't forget that many young African-American men are doing just fine, thank you, and are raising families, holding down jobs and fully participating in society.

Unfortunately, the numbers don't lie. There's no avoiding the fact that young black males comprise the highest percentage of school suspensions, drop-outs and the prison population. Young black males are in danger, and society doesn't really know what to do about it.

Still, we must keep trying, and some excellent ideas came from a "kitchen table conversation" sponsored by Durham Public Schools last week. The session was part of an application for a $1.5 million grant from the National Education Association.

About 150 people participated. Here were some ideas that emerged:

Train more teachers in cultural diversity, hire more black male teachers, get the whole community involved, use social workers and psychologists to help children, set high expectations for everyone and de-emphasize teaching to the test.

All are excellent ideas, and most have already been implemented to some extent. But it's important to keep the focus on these issues. And the message to the community remains -- don't sit on the sidelines, get involved.