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Dear Families,
When I think of the word commencement, I often connect it with an ending or a conclusion. Fitting perhaps, as it naturally follows course-- when we end one thing, we commence another. We begin. Yesterday, we graduated our “Sweet 16” Class of 2025, and our Honorary Graduate, Miss Frances McKamey. For the kids, this begins the next phase of their lives as servant leaders, bridge builders and people of tomorrow, for Miss McKamey, she prepares to commence into her retirement.
Beginnings are often scary, met with unknowns and uncertainty. Often I find that the middle part goes by in a blink of an eye, and if we aren’t intentional, we can miss it, or forget that it’s something to be cherished. It is at the end though, that we often look back, rather than ahead, about all that we experienced, loved, valued and learned. Endings are beautiful, challenging, bittersweet, joyful, and can also be sad. But I believe that if we’ve lived the middle part to the fullest, endings are usually met with the confidence that we are ready--- that it is time.
Our kids are prepared from preschool on, to go off and do amazing things. They learn to be pillars in the community, and live by ours as well (serve, learn, lead, and pray). In the 8th grade Culminating Projects, every 8th grader reflected on the ways in which they have embodied these pillars in their time at OLG, be it twelve years or two years. Perhaps the most valuable though, was the way in which they envisioned sharing it with others for the rest of their lives.
At OLG, our community is what binds us together for generations past and in the future. Our faith grounds us, our leadership propels us, and academics give us confidence to believe in ourselves, and our service allows us to leave the world better than we found it.
As we commence into the final week of the school year, I invite you all to look around, reflect on the year gone by, and on the words from our old pal Ferris Bueller. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Enjoy the journey, not just the next destination.
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