By Mic Thurber
No, not that season where you are supposed to be jolly, though I can imagine a lot of students and their parents feel a sense of joy right now. I’m talking about graduation season! The school year has come to a close, and there is much to celebrate in the Rocky Mountain Conference.
Of our conference’s 18 schools, including Campion and Mile High Academies, some 781 of our children have successfully completed another year of school. Among them, 17 are graduating high school at Mile High and 35 from Campion. We also have 55 graduating eighth graders, and 59 students will be moving from kindergarten to first grade.
All this happens because of our dedicated and excellent teaching force of 81 staff under the leadership of our very professional education department composed of Diane Harris, Paul Negrete, and Sandy Hodgson.
I’m very proud of all our schools, students, faculty, and departmental leaders. I send my best wishes and congratulations to all our graduates, along with encouragement to those who are still heading toward their graduation in coming years. I also want to say a special word of thanks to our teachers and education team leaders for your tireless work for our children. God has surely gifted our conference with you!
Every so often I hear questions and conversations asking if it’s really worth it to invest so much in Adventist education. For me, the answer is always a resounding “Absolutely!” Our schools are our front line of evangelism and are becoming more and more important as we see what’s happening in the world around us.
Please don’t misunderstand me. It’s in all our best interest as citizens for there to be a strong and healthy public school system. Though I went through Adventists schools for all my elementary, secondary, and college years, in addition to some graduate work at UNC while I was teaching, there was one year I attended the local community college in Charlotte, North Carlona. I was taking a year’s break from my formal education pursuit to work for the Carolina Conference for a special project for young adults that my father was leading that year. Not wanting to get too far behind, I went to the local college to take some basics—English, math, and music theory (I was planning to be a music major back then).
My experience was good overall, and the teaching staff was very good. A couple of things, however, reminded me how valuable it is to have the atmosphere of a God-honoring school environment. I will always remember the day in English class when the teacher threw out a scenario, she wanted each of us to respond to. She said, “Imagine that something terrible has happened in the world and there is no more food. You are down to your last loaf of bread, and your neighbor comes knocking at your door and asks if you have any bread left that you could give them. What is your response?”
It was interesting to hear the various responses from my classmates. Finally, she pointed to me and asked what I’d do. I told her, “Well, I’m a Christian and wouldn’t hesitate to share what I had, even giving it all away if I needed to help them.” My teacher just looked at me with the most perplexed look. “Why in the world would you do that?” She asked. I replied something like, “Well, if it’s my last loaf, what real difference would it make anyway. And besides, it means more to be of help to someone else than to just satisfy myself. That’s what I think the Bible would ask of me.”
She just shook her head as if to say, “I don’t get it.” And obviously she didn’t. She was actually a very good teacher and very decent to all of us. It’s just that something was missing in her. And you can’t share what you don’t have.
In every classroom every day in Rocky Mountain Conference schools, there is a teacher that does have something special to give away—a saving knowledge of Jesus. Oh, we want them to be well educated teachers who are properly certified and who teach well. And our teachers are all indeed that. I don’t know about you, but I’m eternally grateful for what’s truly different about our schools.
I hope that during this graduation season that you can speak a word of thanks and encouragement to a teacher or principal, or to one of our education leaders. It’s ok to invite them over for supper or watermelon and ice cream or hand them a gift card to a favorite place to eat as a way of saying thanks for their hard work. If you can’t do that, a warm handshake and word of thanks will go a long way.
—Mic Thurber is the RMC president. Photo supplied.
