Class of 2021 - Beck Cully Award Winner

Good morning graduates, staff, and parents. Congratulations to all of you for getting through a tough last year at Holy Spirit school. Today is our last day as eighth graders here. In a few months we will be high schoolers, and before we know it we will be graduating again, but even as time passes and we grow up we will never forget the lessons we learned, the memories we made and the relationships we built. It is here that we learned and grew together. Holy Spirit taught lessons that helped to shape us and become the people we are today. These lessons, big and small, will help us now and in our future. 

As Holy Spirit has supported us through the years we have been surrounded by faith. Faith is a huge part of our lives and thanks to our teachers and priests we have developed our faith. It is not something that is simply taught, however shown and felt. We experienced faith through mass, community service, religion classes, retreats, and the sacraments. I, myself, have encountered faith through school masses. I feel I was able to grow in my faith when I was with my classmates and buddies celebrating mass. I was able to connect with God and know my peers were doing the same. As a class we experienced faith together, learning and growing together was such a comforting feeling. Faith gave us the opportunity to connect with others in this very safe environment. Throughout these years faith has brought us together.

At Holy Spirit we have also been taught knowledge and its significance. We learned how to use our knowledge to become aware of the world around us. Knowledge is what helps us to reach the fullest of our potential by giving us the dynamic skills we need to learn. It also gives us the ability to understand and grow in other things such as my community and faith. Throughout my 10 years at Holy Spirit School I have been provided with a good education that allowed me to grow and acquire knowledge. My experience in reading and writing during eighth grade taught me how to use knowledge effectively. During eighth grade we learned about many serious topics. Not only did I become aware of these topics but I learned that it’s important to know about them. My teacher, Mrs. Smith taught my peers and I that it is important to learn from the past and to know what is happening in today’s world. She taught us ways to use what we learned to help others. With this, we gained knowledge and learned how to use it, which is an important skill taught to us here at Holy Spirit.

Another lesson we all learned together is the importance of community. We learned how important it is to be actively involved in and embrace diversity within our community. We discovered our community through the many events and activities such as the advent program, Halloween carnivals, walk-a-thons, participating in mass, and so much more. In each of these we actively interacted with our community and experienced first-hand the strength of our togetherness. I personally was able to understand community through Altar serving. During my time as an Altar server I was able to see the Priests, Altar servers, lectors, choir, Eucharistic ministers, ushers, and even those who attended, come together as a community to celebrate mass. I learned how relying on others and being relied on can create good outcomes, strong relationships, and a supportive environment; even though my classmates and I will explore new communities we will take the lessons we have learned here at Holy Spirit.

As our time here comes to an end and we move on to bigger and greater things we will take the lessons and values we have been taught by our teachers, friends, and community here at Holy Spirit. These past years have been a pleasure thanks to all of you, and even though we may not go to the same school anymore I hope that the friendships we have formed will last. I wish all graduates the best at their new schools.  I’d like to thank the teachers on behalf of the graduating class; we would like to thank you for your patience with us when we didn't understand something, and your incredible teaching skills when you shared your knowledge. Thank you to the Priests for helping us learn and grow in our faith. Thank you to the parish for giving us a fun and supportive community to be a part of. Thank you, Holy Spirit School for teaching us “Faith. Knowledge. Community.”