Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just got back from the local HS graduation. There were 14 graduates.
We were invited to two after-graduation parties. Every empty space in our small town - the communty hall, the fire hall, the two churches, The American Legion hall, even graduates' parents' yards and homes, was full of folks. The next town over (seven miles away) also had graduation parties. No alcohol, just food and pop. Lots of folks sitting and talking and hugging the graduates and walking around socializing.
It was great fun. The kids are all so special, so ready to go out in the world, trying so hard to meet the challenges of their lives ahead, so inspired and inspiring.
I've been to lots of graduations and this one was probably the most fun - a slideshow of the kids growing up, funny and irreverent speakers. Their colors were lime green and hot pink (not the school colors, the class colors). Their theme song? "Don't Worry - Be Happy!" and their motto? "When opportunity doesn't knock, build a door" - Milton Berle. Yes it was country and hokey and simplistic - and wonderful!
I just got back from the local HS graduation. There were 14 graduates.
We were invited to two after-graduation parties. Every empty space in our small town - the communty hall, the fire hall, the two churches, The American Legion hall, even graduates' parents' yards and homes, was full of folks. The next town over (seven miles away) also had graduation parties. No alcohol, just food and pop. Lots of folks sitting and talking and hugging the graduates and walking around socializing.
It was great fun. The kids are all so special, so ready to go out in the world, trying so hard to meet the challenges of their lives ahead, so inspired and inspiring.
I've been to lots of graduations and this one was probably the most fun - a slideshow of the kids growing up, funny and irreverent speakers. Their colors were lime green and hot pink (not the school colors, the class colors). Their theme song? "Don't Worry - Be Happy!" and their motto? "When opportunity doesn't knock, build a door" - Milton Berle. Yes it was country and hokey and simplistic - and wonderful!
Holy Crap...you had 14 kids...that was twice as many as Brother who graduated this year. They had 7!
Like you said, it was special. At his graduation the Mother stood up and spoke, the Father got up and spoke, and finally the graduate got up and spoke. Some of the 10 minute speeches were boring, but hey so are the speeches in the bigger graduating classes with 50 people or more or so...
Most likely just a public school that hasn't consolidated with area communities (or there aren't area communities to consolidate with).
My graduating class was about 160, but that was only because our local high school (in a community of 300 people) closed and we consolidated with a neighboring town about pop. 7,000. The high school I attended there enrolled about 600, but they were drawn from about a dozen tiny farming communities around the central town, as well as from the central town. Had those from the town/school I would have graduated from not closed/consolidated, I'd have graduated with about twelve kids, I believe.
We had only the valedictorians/salutatorians speak, maybe the student body president, as well. I think it's kind of cool when every kid gets to talk, but I've also seen that backfire, because I'm not a real fan of particularly irreverent speeches. Kids can act like asses and it cheapens the ceremony and makes it seem tacky when they get up and embarrass themselves with poorly thought out, non-decorous speeches.
Public school - we are a district of two schools, 1 elementary and 1 junior-high/high school. The elementary (in a town 20 miles away) used to be 1-12 as did this one, but the population shrank and they consolidated.
We cover about 100 sq miles. There are only 6,000 people in the whole county of cattle ranches. 40 miles away is the "big" city of 2,000 people, with their own school district. Our two kids who spoke - one was chosen by the students, the other by the teachers - were funny and lighthearted and forward-looking, intelligent. One is a champion bronc rider who is a brilliant computer programmer, who is going into vet med; and the other, who excelled in the FFA, girls' basketball, and drama, is going to be an English and Spanish teacher. All but two of the grads are going to college with scholarships, etc; and every one is planning to come home to work, both on their family's ranches and in their chosen fields. These kids are centered and close-knit, and full of life and self-respect, as well as respect for others. So nice to see after 20 years of living in and witnessing WHY SC vies for 50th in the US for education. These kids worked for and earned their grades as well as their scholarships, grants, etc.
Umm...doesn't fit either description really Marmac. In a way it is "Public" because the island residents pay for the students to go to school, but they pay for them to go to school at a private high school since most public school systems do not have dorms.
Dorms are required because with island living you never really know what the weather is going to be, and the school system operates in the winter when the weather is at its worst. With the cost of schooling being a burden to Maine Taxpayers, they are closing the island school houses...even the one room K-8th schoolhouses. And making a 20 mile ride on a boat when its -20º is not much fun with freezing spray and whatnot. What the hay...I'll just say it; it is a logistical nightmare being a full time resident on an island with school-age kids all around. Just getting to a high school basketball game can literally be wrought with transportation peril!
I guess you could say they are part of a bigger graduating class since the private schools the island residents pay for them to attend are bigger then just a few kids. But if you are talking about the graduates from a single community, (in this case an island community) then yes there are very few kids indeed. Depends how you define it I guess.
We had 25 graduates. What blew me away was the amount of money that this little community poured into scholarships. I gotta' get the figure for you. It is impressive.
I know some of these little businesses and individuals are not rich; they just have priorities that are celestial.
Two couples financed a distance learning program for a Downs' Syndrome student. That child is thrilled to 'go to college' like everyone else. And, another scholarship stipulates one year of RN nursing at the local nursing home when finished with that degree.
So, much thought and creativity went into this as well as plain old generosity. Wow.
Umm...doesn't fit either description really Marmac. In a way it is "Public" because the island residents pay for the students to go to school, but they pay for them to go to school at a private high school since most public school systems do not have dorms.
Dorms are required because with island living you never really know what the weather is going to be, and the school system operates in the winter when the weather is at its worst. With the cost of schooling being a burden to Maine Taxpayers, they are closing the island school houses...even the one room K-8th schoolhouses. And making a 20 mile ride on a boat when its -20º is not much fun with freezing spray and whatnot. What the hay...I'll just say it; it is a logistical nightmare being a full time resident on an island with school-age kids all around. Just getting to a high school basketball game can literally be wrought with transportation peril!
I guess you could say they are part of a bigger graduating class since the private schools the island residents pay for them to attend are bigger then just a few kids. But if you are talking about the graduates from a single community, (in this case an island community) then yes there are very few kids indeed. Depends how you define it I guess.
Monhegan? Matinicus? North Haven? (DIS is calculating out which ferry travels 10 (or 20) miles to "America".)
My graduating class was HUGE- we had 35! (Though I think 5 of those were Adult Ed graduates..not really the usual 17 year old HS grads). My son, in the same school system, will have 17 if they all stay until graduation.
My oldest graduated in Wyoming while living with his GF. The second graduated here in TN. 100% graduation rate, class of 13.
Public school, kids pulled from 3 counties. It's all farm land. The kids are good, down to earth, wholesome children who still have respect for their elders and grow up on their knees at the alter. The graduation still has prayer, something that was important to us. And they have the junior participate in the passing of the light, where the seniors upon their departure from the stage, pass through the double line of juniors, and hand them a lit candle.
The entire ceremony was so very moving. And for all 13 graduates the vast majority of the population of the three counties attending, whether their children were graduating or not. One of the kids was killed in a car accident during the school year and they gave him his honorary diploma, handed to his father. That was just heart wrenching.
All of the kids love the staff and it was obvious. They boys on the basketball team would carry their teachers around the stage when they got their diploma - one even picked up the principal. And the staff loves it. They are all so close and it's very obvious. Those kids are our future here and everyone knows it.
I love living in a small town.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
(DIS is calculating out which ferry travels 10 (or 20) miles to "America".) 
