Congratulations To Graduating Seniors!
By Steve Rensberry, Editor
The weekend of May 18 and 19 is shaping up to be a busy one, beginning with high school graduation ceremonies planned in both the Triad and Collinsville school districts. Though the number of senior students in both districts combined numbers is less than 1,000 (302 in Triad and 529 in Collinsville, according to the ISBE’s Illinois Report Card), factor in their parents, brothers, sisters, friends, and grandpa and grandpa, and high school graduation day makes for a whole lot of smiles! For those who may feel left on the sidelines or who, for one reason or another, fell short and won’t be participating, let me say this as strongly as I can — Don’t Give Up! Sometimes the time just isn’t right, and the day is young.
This newsman is a prime example. Due to a calamity of circumstances, graduation day — with all its “pomp and circumstance” — at the high school I attended in Sault Ste. Marine, Ontario, was a day I never got to experience. I did have a legitimate reason. Driving home one day, about mid-way through the school year, another driver suddenly side-swiped my car after running a red light. The collision was so forceful that it dislocated my shoulder and practically shattered my collar bone, breaking it in two places — and I have a nice 9-inch scar to prove it! Some of my classes I was able to catch up in after studying along at home, but not all, so I was left short of the necessary credits to pass.
The good news: One year later I was handed my GED after completing the required classes at a local community college. A few years after that and I even made it through college, SIUE in fact, accident free! The funny thing is, while I missed experiencing my own graduation, I sure haven’t missed the experience itself. As a community reporter, I’ve lost count of how many graduation ceremonies I’ve been at — all of them wonderfully happy occasions.
To graduating seniors and their families, at whatever level of education you’re celebrating, we wish you nothing but success in the years ahead. Think positive!
