Nooksack Valley Class of 2021!
It’s the first full week of June and the air is electric with the buzz of excitement as we send another graduating class into the world. These young people have waited their whole lives for this momentous occasion. With anxious anticipation, they have watched the three classes go before them. Witnessing and experiencing the excitement from the outside it’s finally their turn.
I have had the blessing of watching many classes graduate NVHS. The first class I was a part of as a high school staff member was 2013, my oldest sons class.
The NVHS Class of 2021 is a little extra though, different than most of the classes that have gone before them. You see this class was my first Kindergarten class when I began working at Everson Elementary School.
Sure, I was very involved with both of the classes my sons were members of from Kindergarten through graduation. However, this class is different. I spent almost every day of elementary school with them. There were innumerable shoe laces tied, teeth lost, ice packs, band-aids, tears and even a little blood. I watched them learn how to line up and walk down the hall somewhat quietly, navigate social situations, the cafeteria at lunch time, recess, friendships and how to wait their turn for tether ball and four square. I had the privilege of being a part of their growth and discoveries, hear of their hopes and dreams, as well as the things that made them scared and sad. They filled my heart with joy and love. Then just as adolescence hit full force, off they went to middle school.
While they were in middle school, I moved to the high school office. Soon they would join me there. I was excited to reconnect with them, see how they had grown and hoped they learned how to properly use deodorant. By the way, most of them did.
Most of the relationships I had forged with this motely crew in elementary school picked right back up when they arrived at the high school and my heart was filled as I took a front row seat to watch them continue to grow into the amazing, caring, hard working and dedicated young men and women they are today.
They didn’t really need me to tie shoelaces anymore, but there were still band aids, ice packs, tears and a little blood as they engaged in woodworking, metal shop, foods classes, p.e. and sports.
In the office, I was once again given the privilege of listening to hopes, dreams, struggles, fears and disappointments. I watched them navigate friendships, crushes and dating as well as relationships with teachers, parents and employers. This was my ministry. I gave them my ear, encouragement, understanding, grace, and snacks. Yep, lots of snacks. I kept Pop-Tarts and fruit snacks in my desk because I couldn’t send a hungry stomach to class and expect them to learn. I think the word hangry was first used to describe a teenager. I also prayed for and worried about them, a lot.
Having struggled to trust adults when I was in school, I was surprised that students would talk about their lives so openly sometimes. That made me determined to be the person for them that I needed when I was their age.
There is so much to being a part of the high school staff that comes alongside parents to support and assist them as they raise up a generation of people who will contribute to our communities. Sometimes we don’t see the real depth and value our years of wisdom can give others. More often we grossly underestimate how priceless it is for just one of these kiddos to have our ear, our grace, and the smallest of kindness that we may offer to them…all of them.
As this Nooksack Valley High School Class of 2021 closes this chapter and begins the next, I hope they each know how loved they are. I pray they have faith, hope, joy and courage as they face the many challenges they will endure during this next phase of their journey. May the roots they developed during their time here in the valley prove strong enough to hold them steady as they continue to grow their wings fly.