We wait for years to see our students walk across that stage, receive their diplomas, and turn that tassel. But why do we do it? Why spend that time on a ceremony when we could just mail the students their diplomas? Why do parents each not hold their own ceremonies with friends and family? Because graduation at The River Academy is about celebrating both the past and the future–and we are a family that celebrates together.
For just about everyone involved, graduation is a chance to celebrate a changing of seasons and a chance to reflect on the years of work–of blood, toil, tears (not always sad ones!), and sweat–that our students do to get to this point. Students who graduate from The River Academy have done something special: they’ve developed grit and they’ve grown up.
Of course they’ve grown up, you scoff–they’re high school graduates! But in so many more ways than physical age, those who have crossed that finish line have grown in maturity and grit. If you look at 3rd or 7th or 9th graders, you might wonder–will they ever get there? The answer is yes, with God’s help and a little time. We, the TRA faculty and staff and parents, have invested hundreds of hours and many dollars to not merely produce students with skills that they can take into the workforce. We have toiled right alongside our students to train thinkers and lifelong learners who will be stalwart lights in the darkness of this ever-wavering world.
They’ve also grown as people, as humans who know how to relate to one another not as images to post on social media or screeds to read on Reddit, but as empathetic, ethical, reasonable humans who know, write, speak, and defend the truth in a civilized, Godly manner. We focus on our students’ holistic education, not just test scores. We read hard things to discuss difficult subject matters in a safe context so that, when the time comes, they’ve thought through and discerned between right and wrong, truth and falsehood. They’ve examined our world and learned that, yes, God made it, but have also studied how He did so. They’ve worked through (for some of us) nearly impossible math problems–not so they can use it directly in whatever job they have, but so that they have developed a diverse set of critical thinking tools to prepare them for lifelong learning.
So, why do we take time to celebrate our graduates’ accomplishments? Because earning a diploma from a Christian, classical school is a laudable achievement. It’s also our chance to say goodbye, to send them into that bright future with prayers and Psalms and words of encouragement and reminders of how far they’ve come.
Come celebrate our graduates with us this Saturday at Sage Hills Church at 2pm.
Tyler Howat
Dean of Academics
