Remarkable Group Of SCHS Seniors
Honored By Special Rite of Passage
The Class of 2005 is about to graduate. Their senior prom is already a memory. Graduation announcements to relatives are in the mail. In a few short weeks, St. Charles High School’s football stadium will be transformed into a field of dreams. Digital cameras will record in high resolution the honors bestowed, the handshakes and hugs, smiles and teary eyes of parents and grandparents.
Graduation is a rite of passage, an affirmation of hard work and lessons learned. It is what all the late nights doing homework, long hours in the classroom and ludicrously heavy backpacks were all about. It’s also about proud parents who worked long hours themselves, but were always there for their children from that first day in kindergarten. I recognize those faces who clutched tiny hands and spoke in reassuring voices as we stood together on the steps of Benton Elementary. Thirteen years has added a few gray hairs, okay, quite a few, but we wouldn’t trade a day of it to live a thousand years.
For every generation, high school graduation is the moment when all things are possible. For 222 St. Charles High School Seniors and their parents, that moment has come. Sue and I will be there too for the graduation of our son Justin. I think he did a pretty good job teaching me how to be a good parent. The initial panic you feel when you hear you’re going to be a father is soon replaced with the panic of being one.
I’ve been trying to recall what I was thinking about when I sat on that field waiting for my name to be called back in 1973. I know there was a subtext to my thoughts that ran “don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip”. I was also probably thinking a little too much about the party afterwards. And maybe the valedictorian. I know I was thinking about spending time with friends over the summer before going away to college. I also remember thinking when would the war be over. Seems some things never change.
Sometimes, however, things change for the better. I have been very impressed with the “Renaissance” program offered by SCHS. It is a nationwide program brought here by St. Charles High School Principal Dr. Jerry Cook to encourage, promote and recognize academic excellence. In 1989 SCHS became the first school in the State of Missouri with the Renaissance Program.
To qualify, students have to maintain a 3.0 or higher and can have only one “C” in a semester. Qualifying Renaissance students receive special recognition at assemblies and are given spirit wear and gear. In 1995, Renaissance began to honor high school seniors who maintained their Renaissance qualification every semester of high school with a banquet for students and parents.
This year’s banquet was held at Stegton’s on April 28th and honored fifty-six of St. Charles best and brightest young people. Each student received a large pewter medal, suspended on a ribbon, with an engraving of the front doorway of the High School and the date of the district’s founding in 1846. Dr. Cook personally presents these Principal’s Leadership Awards to each of the students at the banquet, and recipients are then entitled to wear them at graduation.
The best parts of the evening were two videos produced by students. The first was where students thanked the teacher who had the biggest influence on their lives. The students then gave roses to those teachers. Another video contrasted toddler photos of students with what they look like today. Parents or guardians were featured in this presentation as the students’ heroes. It was an evening filled with pride, love and appreciation for a job well done.
The Renaissance program is funded solely through private donations. Some of the local businesses and groups who support the program are: Pundmann Ford, Parkview Gardens, Safe Way Tire Center, Wiegmann Associates, Inc. and the SCHS Alumni Association. Donations of any size are accepted at any one who is interested can contact Dr. Jerry Cook, c/o Renaissance, St. Charles High School, 725 North Kingshighway, St. Charles, MO 63301 or call him at 9636) 443-4187.
May will be a busy month for the Class of 2005 and their families. Whether they are graduating from SCHS or West, Orchard Farm, Francis Howell or Duchesne these are the leaders, the guardians, the innovators and the parents of tomorrow. The future they were born to write is about to begin.
