Page 43 - Priorities #68-Summer 2017

On June 1st, forty 8th grade students proceeded to the Rothrock Performance Hall with big smiles and even bigger dreams as they graduated from the Priory middle school. The ambitious class walked in while the middle school choir aptly sang, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”
The packed hall listened intently to the first student speaker Greta Patterson. Greta expressed how the class has grown together. “The first day of sixth grade was life changing for many of us. I like to think of that day as planting a seed,” she said. “It grew and grew, until we first saw a sprout. Our Priory tree sprouted and I like to think that was right around outdoor ed.” She described the seventh grade as another growing experience, “Then our tree added another ring.” Finally the eighth grade year brought the class together stronger than ever. “Our tree stands strong thank to our caring teachers, dear friends, our own hard work, and the passing of time,” she said. In closing Greta left the crowd with a strong message, “As I look around at our amazing class, I don’t just see friends, classmates, peers or team mates. I see a family. A family where when you fall, there will be 40 pairs of hands to lift you up, 40 voices telling you can do it, 40 smiles making you believe it will be ok.”
The final student speaker was Emily Stanger. Emily had a wonderful analogy for their middle school days. “This journey through middle school has kind of been like a race,” she said. She started with “6th grade was the beginning. We were all trying to find our place in the pack.” Then continued with, “7th grade to me was like the middle of the race. We had found our places,
and were able to happily jog, but there were still difficult obstacles along the way.” And
finally, “8th grade was the final stretch of the race; the part where you can see the end,
but you aren’t quite there yet.” Emily closed her speech and the middle school race with a victorious and honest ending. “Now, today, we are crossing the finish line. We are ecstatic to
reach our destination, but also exhausted from working so hard. Congrats! This race is over.”
The students selected Myles Somerville, a beloved teacher and coach to be the commencement speaker. The quick witted Somerville did not disappoint with his humorous yet speaking from the heart address. Somerville bravely shared some of his
own middle school blunders, “In sixth grade I got my first girlfriend...I knew she was the one. Until I realized she had a serious addiction to Cool Ranch Doritos...we broke up right there. She cried. I probably cried.” The lesson being, “Never be too critical of others, or you may miss something.” Somerville also told a relatable story of having to bring a stick of deodorant to his 8th grade gym class. His father was out of town so, “my mom shoved a half used bar of her Organic Lady Speed Stick in my bag.” To Somerville’s demise, “All the boys laid into me hard on that one. I let it get to me and I went home and was furious with her. She stayed calm and cool and simply said, “own it and they can’t laugh at you.” The next day Somerville walked into the locker room and “stood up on the bench and very publically sprayed some of my moms pink perfume under my armpits. The boys laughed with me this time, and never gave me gruff about my lady speed stick again.” What had Somerville learned? “The ability to laugh at yourself is a valuable tool.”
Somerville’s overall message to the students was that the “awkward but meaningful” lessons never stop. And to start learning from your mistakes because life happens fast!
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Middle School commencement speaker Myles Somerville.
MS GRADUATION