ARLINGTON — The 14 graduating seniors of Highland Christian School reflected on the ways in which the world has changed, and themselves with it, during their June 11 graduation ceremony.
“You started kindergarten in 1996,” Highland Christian School Principal Kevin Reimer said. “That was the first year that more e-mails than postal mails were sent. That year also marked the inception of Google, Internet Explorer 3.0 and the first wheel mouse. There were only 45 million users of the Internet back then, whereas now there are 1.67 billion.”
In the midst of the world events that they witnessed, Reimer praised the students for persevering and developing into young leaders with strong relationships and a strong shared faith.
“You have learned to learn,” Reimer said. “I thank you for letting us be a part of your lives.”
After graduating Senior Class President Nick Groendyk passed the ceremonial baton of leadership to Junior Class President Calvin Wold, Class of 2010 Salutatorian Kjirsti Overgaard credited the students’ parents with supporting them and their teachers with making their lessons meaningful. She cited her class’ trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland as an example.
“What could have just been words on a page came alive when we saw it acted out,” Overgaard said.
Field trips were but one of the ways that Overgaard recalled bonding with her classmates over the years, with others including school plays, sports, homecoming and playing pranks on Pastor Steve Brown. Overgaard confessed that she and her peers had temporarily removed a number of items from Brown’s classroom, from his phone to the light bulbs in the fixtures, and had once turned one of his desk drawers into a goldfish tank, complete with water and fish.
“He kept telling us that he would get us back good, but we have yet to see it,” Overgaard laughed. “We thank him for humoring us.”
Valedictorian Brian Breekveldt admitted that he and his classmates might not have reached the “mature young adult” stage entirely, but he urged his peers not to forget the lessons they’d learned at Highland Christian School. After insisting that he still planned on getting them back, Brown described the students as creative young people who would make wonderful things happen in the adult world by applying their gifts.
Anthony Favors left the faculty of Highland Christian School in 2009 to pursue career opportunities in New Mexico, but he returned to deliver the commencement address to the students with whom he’d grown so close since his arrival at their school in 2007.
“You embraced me as your friend,” Favors said. “The questions you raised made me dig deeper into God’s word, and the essays you wrote caused me to become a better student of God’s word. You all left an indelible mark on my heart.”
