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By ERIN TIERNEY
LOGANTON – Often heard at graduation ceremonies are statements like “welcome to the real world,” but for 22 students at Sugar Valley Rural Charter School, no such statements were uttered, because the faculty and staff are convinced their students are already well-acquainted with life outside the school’s walls.
And they know they will be just fine.
Last night’s graduation was one for the books.
To open the ceremony, SVRCS’s Chief Executive Officer Logan D. Coney wasted no time; almost immediately, she turned and spoke directly to the students.
Coney said she hasn’t bought into the notion students at SVRCS have yet to face the “real world,” and life is only “just beginning” for them. Instead, she said, she believes they’ve been living in it all along – and have been doing very well for themselves.
“You’ve been told 100 times you’re soon to join the ‘real adult world,’ as if the past four years have been all fun and games, as if you don’t have a clue about the world out there,” Coney said. “And I thought about it.. and I would have to succumb to the thought that the real world only exists beyond this room… and I would have to ignore the fact that I witnessed you tackle and work through the stresses of your failures and successes here.”
But she can’t.
This year, the school suffered the loss of one of its junior students, Alex Witherite, and Coney said she watched the students deal with an ultimate “real -life” experience: death. She cannot buy into the idea that these kids don’t know anything about the “real world,” she said.
She said she knows they’re ready for whatever faces them.
“This so-called ‘real world’ looks forward to your cooperation and hard work,” Coney said, adding that the world won’t give anything in return if they are not productive citizens.
“SVRCS has brought you this far – the rest is up to you,” she said with a smile.
Next up to the podium was Salutatorian Hunter Barnes, who highlighted what he believes is a strong asset of the school – community involvement.
Barnes talked about some of his favorite times – field trips, science classes, outdoor classes – and said it takes a special school to be this involved with the community outside the classroom.
Barnes laughed when he realized he’d said “school is fun,” but he said that’s the effect SVRCS has had on him.
And for what seems to be a trend this year of taking “selfies” at graduation ceremonies, Valedictorian Shanin Butler jokingly started her speech with the rebuttal, “Please take a moment to stop taking selfies and posting to Facebook to listen to my infinite knowledge.”
For Butler, one of the strongest assets of SVRCS is how unconditionally accepting everyone has been.
“Whether you’re country or city… no matter what race or religion you are (classmates) will welcome you,” she said. “If you’re nice, they’re nice back.”
With no apprehension, Butler went on to say, “if you’re ready, or if you’re not, that’s completely okay… A good adult is knowing when to be an adult and when to live, and you guys really know how to live.”
Butler put into context just how spectacular she believes her classmates are.
“Did you know our bodies are 90 percent stardust?,” she asked her classmates. “Isn’t that amazing? You’re made from a star that exploded and you shine brilliantly… You are the universe… Get out there and shine brighter than the stars in our galaxy.”
U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Howard) had the honor of delivering the commencement address to the class of 2014 and stressed, “Today is a milestone in your journey – not a final destination.”
Thompson said he borrowed key ideals from King David to offer them advice on living their lives: “Value excellence; don’t settle for average; pay attention to detail; remain committed to what really matters; display integrity and sound ethics; show genuine respect for others; demonstrate consistency, especially in decision-making; never stop improving; and make excellence a lifestyle.”
And with that final statement left to resonate, future technicians, actresses, engineers, phlebotomists, teachers, photographers, chefs, nurses, and a slew of other productive citizens of the world turned their tassels and threw their caps to the sky.
VIDEO: Chorus sings at graduation at www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYGYB1nUj_s&feature=youtu.be