Friday, May 25, 2007

Cromwell-Wright High School Graduation Speech - May 25, 2007

05/25/2007

Cromwell-Wright High School Graduation Speech by Jennie K. Hanson May 25, 2007

Mr. Hilinski, Mr. Cawcutt, Members of the Board of Education, Parents, relatives and friends of the Class of 2007. Congratulations on your graduation from High School.  It was 13 years ago that you entered these halls and started your journey to this night.  As your year book motto says:  “There are those who said this day would never come… What are they to say now?”

Well, just look at you.  All ready to graduate and face the world ahead of you.  I’m sure most of you will miss your days on this journey, but you also are very excited to get on with your lives.

As most of you know I was your 4th Grade teacher back in 1998-1999.  You couldn’t have been a better class to end a teaching career on.  We had a great year and I will forever be grateful for the type of class you were. You were dedicated learners with dedicated parents to help you along.  Yes, it does take parents who put education first in the lives of their children to make a class like this one.  I don’t mean just schooling, I mean taking the time to use those teachable moments to enhance our children’s learning. I had a parent once that was going to take his children out of school for a week.  They were taking a trip and wanted to know if the kids should bring their homework along.  I said No, they didn’t need to.  But, they should make a journal along the way and learn as much as they could on the trip. Then he said something to me that I never forgot.  “I never let school get in the way of my children’s education!” And now his kids are grown up have successful lives!

Now, let’s go back to the 4th grade.  There are only 12 of the original 4th graders in this class tonight.  So, to Megan, Casey, Gary, Alissa, Jordan, RoseAnna, Grant, Johny, Levi, Logan, Heidi, Nathan, and Tim, thanks for being such great students.  Some of the others that are no longer with us or moved away are Vinnie Green, Gary Morrow, Mike Creel, Brent Mootz, Sarah Huntington, Kyle Hall, Eli Hemmila, and of course Skye Rinta.  Skye will be missed by all of you. But, you can make your lives a living memorial to her. Try to make the tragedy of yesterday, into the promise of tomorrow by going out and doing the best you can.  She would be proud of that.

We had some great times in 4th Grade.  As a matter of fact I was looking around in my “teacher shed” and just happened to find my old accordion brief case that I used to carry papers back in forth in and guess what I found? Yes, some of your old papers that I saved just for this event.  Or maybe I just didn’t get around to correcting them.  Anyway, I found these apples colored by you guys.  So, yesterday, I laminated them and will give them back tonight.

But even more interesting were these letters to President Clinton.  So, I thought I’d share a few of your letters tonight.

Dear President Clinton, “My name is Alissa Mae Granholm. Can I have your autograph?  I am a very cute girl and very adorable so please send me a picture of your puppy!  Are you ever going to come to Cromwell?”

RoseAnna writes: “Dear Mr. Clinton, I memorized the presidents.  Can you say the presidents? Can you say the states?”

Heidi Smith wrote:  “Dear Mr. President: I memorized the presidents and said them to my class on the first day of school.  My 7 year-old cousin also said them this year and he’s only in 1st grade.” That’s Jordan Smith. Here’s one from Skye Rinta.

“Dear Clinton Family, Hi, how are you? I guess I’m good. Our teacher is Jennie K. Hanson.  She is retiring from 33 years of teaching.  She is my favorite teacher until someone else comes along.”

So you can see the type of kids this class was back in 4th Grade.  They were great!

But this speech isn’t just directed to my former 4th graders.  As a substitute teacher here at the school, for the past 8 years, I have grown to know the new members to this class, too.  They are a great addition to the Class of 2007.  So to Johnathan, Alex, Heather, Danielle, Karen, Channing, Taylor, and Cory, Thanks for choosing to come to Cromwell to complete your high school education.

We are very fortunate to have the kids here that are so welcoming to new students.  I just hope that the new kids feel the same way.

As a matter of fact a couple of years ago, I was subbing in Ms. Berg’s class and I noticed a new student, so I introduced my self and gave him a dollar to go get a Pepsi as a Welcome gift.  And you know what happened, Not one other student in the room said: “That’s not fair or Where’s my dollar?” They were just glad I found a way to welcome this new guy.  So, thanks parents for raising such great kids!

One of the best things we did in the 4th grade was the Foster Grandparent Program.  Once a month we would go to the Villa Vista and visit with the residents and do some craft projects or put on a program.  Each 4th Grader would be paired up with a resident and that would be their Foster Grandparent for the whole year.

It took a while to remember who our Foster Grandparent was and one time when we got to the Villa, Levi asked me to tell him who his Foster grandparent was and I pointed and said she’s the one in the wheelchair with grey hair and glasses.  He looked at me and said:  “They all look like that!” So, I had to lead him over to there and introduce him again.

Another time, Logan Shiflett came up to me while we were doing a craft project and said:  “They took my scissors!” I said he should just share with someone else, but he wouldn’t do it.  He said: “You don’t understand. They took my scissors!” Well, come to find out, two of the residents had taken his scissors and were secretly cutting of their wristbands so they could escape!  Those wristbands cost over $60.00 so needless to say we never did another craft project that required scissors again.

Back in 1999 when you were just finishing up 4th Grade, another class was graduating from this school.  There have been so many classes to come and go through these doors and they have accomplished great things.  We have had students from our school go on to become doctors, nurses, Air Force Pilots, Nuclear Science Teachers, Physician’s Assistants, teachers, professors, Computer experts, business men and women, carpenters, construction workers, soldiers (one of which is now serving in Iraq) and many, many other successful careers.

So just because you come from a Small Class, in a Small School in a Small Town.  Remember: Your future is Big!  You are not limited in what you choose to do.  You are only limited in what you choose not to do!

Some of you may think that the things you learned here will never be of use to you again, but you might be surprised when they will come in handy. School prepares you for the future and you don’t always know what that future holds for you.

Don’t let any setbacks stop you either.  Last Saturday, the winning horse in the Preakness stumbled at the gate but went on to win the race beating out the favorite, Street Smart by a nose!

Remember: Thirty years from now, it won’t matter what shoes you wore, how your hair looked, or the jeans you bought.  What will matter is what you learned and how you used it!

So, when you look back on your lives, I hope you all have as many good memories of school as I do.

I’ve spent a lifetime teaching.  You’ve spent a lifetime learning, so now go out and put that learning to use.  You have been given a firm foundation and now it’s up to you to build on it.

Let’s all stand and give this class a standing ovation for all their accomplishments.  See how smart they are?  (Have the class put on the silly Glasses)

Sunday, April 15, 2007

TO SOUTH AFRICA AND BACK

04/15/2007

The following is a letter I received from Nicole Suhonen of Wright who recently went to South Africa on a mission trip with Campus Crusade for Christ.

TO SOUTH AFRICA AND BACK by Nicole Suhonen March 2007

How does a person even begin to explain a 10-day trip to South Africa that will forever be a part of them?  It almost feels like a dream that I was even there.  It was such an incredible time of my life and I’m so grateful that God provided a way for me to go.  I experienced some very difficult things and some of the most incredible things of my life thus far.

There are so many stories that I could share with you; I learned a ton. It’s so funny how God brought me to a third world country, where people have nothing, and showed me how big He is and how small I am, yet how much He loves me and how much He loves people.  He showed me how He is the great provider of all that we need.  I just want to share a bit with you of what I experienced.  If you want to hear more about my trip, please feel free to ask!

A highlight of the trip for me was in the afternoons when we ran Vacation Bible School for the kids.  We taught them a story from the Bible, sang many songs with them, had a couple of group activities, and then just had free time where they went crazy playing with the beach balls, balloons, jump ropes, and bubbles that we brought with us!  They were so precious and full of energy!  We learned some fun African songs, played Frisbee and football with them, had our hair braided, and played hand games with them.  They didn’t really care what we were doing. They just wanted to be near us.  It reminded me of God.  All that He wants is to be near us.  He longs for us to want to be near Him, to hold His hand, to sit in His lap, to sing with Him.

One of our main focuses was to serve the people in Qwa Qwa, the poorest region of South Africa.  This was our small way of showing them Christ’s love.  It probably seemed quite strange to them that us crazy white people would come all the way from the US just to wash their dishes, sweep their floor, help them with laundry, and just try to learn about them and their culture.  Another tangible way for us to show them the love of Christ was to plant a garden for them.  The unemployment rate is at a staggering 85%! There are hardly any jobs.  Since 1 in 4 people have AIDS kids are not getting the education that they need. The kids have to quit school at an early age either because they are sick or a family member is and they need to take care of them.  This later on in life leads to unemployment, which leads to no income, which leads to no food, which leads to starvation.

Most of us can’t even begin to fathom what this is like.  I realized how I take everything for granted.  I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food in my pantry, and some extra spending money; I could go on and on.  I live in luxury compared to these people.  Yet I continually want more.  I try to find my contentment in things.  Life is not about what I do or do not have.  It’s more about who I do or do not have.  Relationships are what matter.  This is the most impacting thing that God showed me through the Basotho people.  These people have nothing.  Yet they are so full of joy.  Genuine joy.  No faking it or trying to cover things up with a smile. They are truly joyful.  They focus on people instead of things.  What matters to them is their family, friends, and people of their community.

I believe that the most important relationship that anyone can have is one with Jesus Christ.  He came to Earth so that each one of us, through Him alone, can spend eternity in Heaven with the one true God who loves us unconditionally.  This is what we want the people of Qwa Qwa (and everyone around the world for that matter) to know.  God loves them and has a plan for their life.  All that He asks is that we admit that we cannot get to Heaven on our own efforts, that we need Jesus to save us.  If we ask, He will come into our lives, and cleanse us from all our sins, all our unrighteousness, all the junk in our lives.  What an amazing gift!  We’re so lucky!  I can really see the urgency for this Good News to be shared with people all over the World, but especially in Africa where people are dying from AIDS and starvation at an unbelievable rate.  Material things do not matter because we cannot bring them with us when we die.  Things of the Earth will only wither and fade away.  The only thing that we can bring with us is people.  I think the Basotho people are on the right path in how they cherish relationships.  I just pray that God will make Himself known to them, and that they will trust Him with their lives, and accept Him as their Lord and Savior.  My prayer is that when I get to Heaven, I will see the people that we met because they saw a glimpse of Jesus in us and put their trust in Him alone.

Again, if you’d like to hear more about this experience, please do not hesitate to ask!  You can also check out the website for the organization we were working with at www.thriveafrica.org.  They are doing some incredible things in the city to build the children and young adults up to be leaders, and to teach them about abstinence and AIDS awareness.  They are playing an integral role in changing the direction of Africa!  They could use our support as they are currently in deficit right now.  If you feel lead, please consider partnering with them!

Thank you again for partnering with me and allowing me this opportunity that will forever be a part of me!  I’m so grateful for your prayers and support!