At four O’clock on Friday afternoon the District’s final graduation ceremony of the 2012-13 school year took place. What began on May 1 at Marathon School ended in Port Graham with one senior receiving his diploma. I was fortunate to attend 8 of the 20 graduations and came away impressed by how polished the ceremonies were and more importantly, by the nice presence that each of our graduates had as they walked across the stage. Although graduation ceremonies tend to incite the outrageous, our graduates pretty much stayed in the box. Thanks to all of our administrators, teachers and volunteers for making the ceremonies run so smoothly.
Last week I attended a board meeting for the Alaska Workforce Investment Board (AWIB). I briefly presented on our district and then took questions from the board members that included one about what our graduates do after high school. Although the phrase college and career ready is the goal that many, including AWIB, expect of our graduates, it does not necessarily address the attributes of being a productive, responsible citizen that are called for in our mission statement. My sense is that we are meeting this piece of our mission and that the majority of our graduates is interested in their community and is willing to give back to make it a better place. While many of our graduates leave the Kenai for college or training, let’s hope that they return to help others continue to make our area such an attractive place to live.
I wish each of our graduates the best with this next exciting phase of their lives.
Our Graduates
At four O’clock on Friday afternoon the District’s final graduation ceremony of the 2012-13 school year took place. What began on May 1 at Marathon School ended in Port Graham with one senior receiving his diploma. I was fortunate to attend 8 of the 20 graduations and came away impressed by how polished the ceremonies were and more importantly, by the nice presence that each of our graduates had as they walked across the stage. Although graduation ceremonies tend to incite the outrageous, our graduates pretty much stayed in the box. Thanks to all of our administrators, teachers and volunteers for making the ceremonies run so smoothly.
Last week I attended a board meeting for the Alaska Workforce Investment Board (AWIB). I briefly presented on our district and then took questions from the board members that included one about what our graduates do after high school. Although the phrase college and career ready is the goal that many, including AWIB, expect of our graduates, it does not necessarily address the attributes of being a productive, responsible citizen that are called for in our mission statement. My sense is that we are meeting this piece of our mission and that the majority of our graduates is interested in their community and is willing to give back to make it a better place. While many of our graduates leave the Kenai for college or training, let’s hope that they return to help others continue to make our area such an attractive place to live.
I wish each of our graduates the best with this next exciting phase of their lives.